The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers!
by Phasmidfan
Summary: OLD The fifth form return! And there's plenty of excitement! With two new girls it's sure to be busy! Injuries make it be T, only for safety. UPDATE: TO BE FINISHED...SOON.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Enid Blyton's stories. But I made up the characters of the new girls.**

**_I tried to make this authentic, as in, like Enid Blyton's books. Hope you like it._**

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers! _Chapter one_**

The loud tooting of a car horn outside caught Darrell's attention. She quickly straightened her brown and orange school uniform and grabbed her school hat, lacrosse stick, riding helmet and small overnight case. She hurried outside to find her father, mother and younger sister Felicity waiting impatiently in the packed car.

"I'm coming!" Darrell yelled as she threw her belongings into the boot and leaped in. At the same moment Felicity leaped out the other door, and raced back up the steps into the house, calling something over the noise of the running engine. Mr Rivers, their father, sighed, tapping the steering wheel. "This family never leaves on time. Never I tell you!" Mrs Rivers tried to calm him down, and called for Felicity, who finally scampered back, clutching her roller skates.

"I almost forgot them," she panted, slamming the car door shut behind her and stuffing the skates into her bag. Mr Rivers quickly pulled out of the drive and onto the road before anyone else could hold them up further. Darrell leaned back, happy and excited. Another term at Malory Towers, her boarding school! She thought of the upcoming term. She was going to be in her second term of fifth form, and Felicity in first. What fun they would have!

"You're lucky you don't have any major exams this term Darrell," commented Felicity.

"I know. I hope we have a nice relaxing time, after all the stress of the pantomime we went through last term," Darrell sighed in happiness as she remembered all the hard work the fifth form had put into creating the pantomime 'Cinderella', and what a success it had been! "Moira will still be head girl. She was so unpopular and domineering last term, but she got better towards the end. I hope she learned her lesson!" The car swung onto the highway. The girls were going to be driven to Malory Towers. Usually they gave Sally Hope, Darrell's best friend, a lift as well, but she had recently been on a holiday overseas and was arriving a week late. The whole journey took a few hours. Darrell and Felicity dozed after a quick lunch of cold chicken salad and hard boiled eggs, but woke up just in time to see their first glimpse of Malory Towers.

"There it is!" Darrell pointed excitedly to the tall, grey building by the sea, with its four stone towers, each of which housed one quarter of the girls at the school. The towers were named North, South, East and West tower. Darrell and her sister were in North. Felicity stared out the window, but the car soon rounded a corner, and Malory Towers vanished from view.

"There's the bus of girls from the station," said Mrs Rivers, pointing out the other window. Darrell turned, and saw two long coaches full of chattering students who had come by train driving past. She waved madly to some other fifth formers she knew. "There's Irene! And Alicia! BETTY! She doesn't see me. She must be blind!" Darrell was soon knocked over by Felicity, who leaned wildly out the window, calling to her friends. "Susan! Susan! I'm here! Hello Nora! June!"

"What madness," commented Mr Rivers. "Wind up the windows now, we're almost there."

Finally the car entered the long drive of the school, and stopped close to the steps. Darrell and Felicity jumped out, and at once a crowd of noisy girls gathered around, exchanging holiday news. Mr and Mrs Rivers waved goodbye cheerfully and then drove off. They had to get back home before dark. Darrell gathered her belongings and walked up the steps with Irene and Belinda. Both Irene and Belinda were scatterbrains, geniuses at some subjects, but completely dippy at most everything else.

"We have to go and report to Matron and hand in our health certificates," reminded Belinda, producing her own large white envelope. "Got yours Irene?" Irene had a famous reputation for losing her health certificate just as it was time to hand it in to Matron. She grinned. "Don't worry. My mother sent it by post this time. No more trouble with Matron for me!"

After handing in her certificate, Darrell made her way to the fifth form dormy. She was to share it with Alicia, Sally, Catherine, Irene, Belinda, Gwendoline, Mary-Lou, Moira and a new girl. When she entered, everyone was already there.

"Hello Darrell!" greeted Alicia. Alicia was extremely smart, and had a very sharp tongue, which she put to use far too often. She had a younger cousin in the second form who was exactly like her, hard and rude, whom Darrell disliked immensely.

"Hello Alicia! Had good hols? Hello Mary-Lou. Oh, and hi Moira! Hi Catherine!" Mary-Lou beamed. She had once been a shy and timid creature, scared of everything, but had eventually become a strong and loyal friend to the people she trusted. One person she simply couldn't stand was Gwendoline, who was disliked by everyone. Gwendoline was a rich, spoiled brat, who thought the world of herself and nothing of others. Everyone avoided her if they could. She sullenly unpacked her bag in her corner of the dormy, irritated that everyone had given her so little attention.

Moira stood in the middle of the dormy, looking serious and orderly. She tended to be very strict and bossy, making her quite unpopular among the other students. Catherine smiled around at everyone. She was a very helpful child, and tried hard to please and help everyone whenever she could. Unfortunately for her, most people made fun of her kind ways and acted very ungratefully towards her.

Darrel flung her bag on her bed and looked around. "Where's the new girl?" she asked. "Apart from Sally she's the only one not here."

"Gone with Matron to see Miss Grayling I believe," said Alicia. "She came by train. Tiny thing, looks like she belongs in the second form! Very quiet too. She mentioned something about having a sister in the first form."

"I saw her too," said Moira. "Very timid looking, much worse than Mary-Lou. Her mother came to see her off at the station, and boy did she make a fuss of her child! Lead her directly to the carriage, made sure she had a seat, even carried her case for her!"

"Gracious!" exclaimed Darrell. "Sounds odd! Well, we'll soon see what she's like." And Darrell was right, for at that moment, there was a knock on the dormy door.

**_To be continued..._**

**_Please review!_**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories but I did invent the new girls.**

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers! _Chapter two_**

"Come in!" called Moira. The door swung open and a small girl peered in. She had thick, heavy glasses which slid down her nose and a mess of curly brown hair which was gathered in a sort of ponytail behind her head. She carried an overnight case and lacrosse stick. "You must be the new girl," Moira continued. "There's your bed over there. I'm the head girl, so you have to listen to me. Go and unpack, and then wash for supper. The bell will go soon."

The girl nodded and dragged her bag over to her bed, which was close to the door. With great effort she hoisted it onto the bed, and then sat down, panting slightly.

"Are you OK?" asked Mary-Lou, concerned. The girl nodded. "I'm fine," she said in a quiet voice which trembled slightly. She opened her case and began unpacking, slowly. Every movement seemed slow and deliberate. Moira seemed impatient. "Hurry up! Supper will start and end by the time you finish!" The girl nodded again, and hurried up a little. Darrell felt sorry for her. It must be extremely daunting to enter a room of strange girls, and she thought Moira was being too harsh. She tried to be friendly.

"Hello! I'm Darrell." She introduced all the others. "What's your name?"

"Melanie. Melanie Brooks," mumbled the girl, placing a photo of her parents on her bedside table.

"Welcome to Malory Towers!" Alicia exclaimed, also trying to be friendly. "Which school did you come from?"

"I did-didn't go to school be-be-before. I ha-ha-ad a tutor." She mouthed each word with effort, speaking with a distinct stutter.

At this Gwendoline pricked up her ears. She had had a governess before coming to Malory Towers, and regarded anyone who did as possibly wealthy and important, which she regarded herself as. She hurried over to the bed, imagining Melanie's stutter to be sheer nervousness.

"Oh, I also had a governess before I came here!" She made a great show of helping Melanie by straightening the girl's sheets on her bed and fluffing up the pillows. "It will take a while to settle in, but don't worry, _I'll_ help you. I know what it's like. It can be very daunting, but you'll soon get used to the way of life here."

The other girls turned away, feeling sick, and Irene snorted. Just like Gwendoline to pounce on any new girl who showed signs of being rich. She was always pushing for an important friend, who she could show off her riches and assumed talents to. At that moment, the supper bell rang shrilly through the air. The girls filed out of the dormy to make their way downstairs, Gwen bringing Melanie along.

Malory Towers employed two French teachers. Mam'zelle Dupont was the most popular among the students due to her cheerful nature and sense of humour. She was taking charge of the fifth form table, and beamed at everyone as they took their places.

Melanie was last to sit down. She stood uncertainly as everyone chose their places, shaking slightly. Gwendoline called to her. "Melanie! Come and sit here! There's a place right beside me!" Melanie sat down, smiling a little. She looked in awe at the giant spread before them. Cold potato salad, jugs of hot cocoa, fresh bread and butter, jam and toast was piled in front of her. Gwendoline filled her own plate, and offered to serve Melanie. "You can eat as much as you want, you don't have to worry."

"And I suppose that means 30% of all this food will disappear down _your_ stomach Gwen?" smirked Alicia. "You'll find yourself having to play lots of games and do lots of swimming this term."

Gwen ignored the comment. It was true she enjoyed her food, and true she was slightly fat, but she hated games and swimming. Just like Alicia to try and bring it up before a new girl. She smiled and tucked into her supper, trying to look as if she didn't care at all.

Darrell looked around, and spotted the other new girl at the other end of the table. Mam'zelle was quick to introduce her. "Now, this is Leoni Green. She is in the North tower as well. I am sure she will make lots of friends!" Leoni smiled, but soon returned to her supper. She looked very prim and neat, with her thick blonde hair tied in two stiff braids and her pale blue eyes observing everything.

"Where's dear old Maureen?" suddenly asked Irene. "I haven't seen her around."

"She's in West tower now," said someone. Maureen had a personality very similar to Gwendoline, who simply despised her. Everyone did, for that matter. They were only too glad to be rid of her from their dormies and table.

"What?!" Alicia choked on a piece of lettuce, and Mavis had to thump her hard. "She _moved_? Why?"

"Ah. She is making room in the North Tower for dear little Melanie," explained Mam'zelle, who knew all the details because she shared an office with Miss Potts, head mistress of North Tower.

"Why couldn't Melanie just be put in West tower?" Alicia was annoyed. Betty, her best friend had always wanted to move to North tower to be with Alicia. Alicia would be just as happy to move to West tower. They found it hard to be proper friends in different towers. It didn't seem fair that Maureen should get to move to make room for a new girl when they had never been allowed!

"Poor Melanie has been ill, and the North tower is closest to the classrooms." Mam'zelle smiled at Melanie, who took a tiny sip of her cocoa. "We must all be nice to Melanie, for she has not been well!"

Alicia scowled. It just wasn't fair! Darrell tried to change the subject. "So Leoni, what school did you go to before you came here?"

"I went to St Dymphna's, but I won a scholarship here. I say, is fifth form hard?"

"Well, it's challenging, but not over-the-top," Darrell looked puzzled. "Why? You've been in it a term already."

"No." Leoni shook her head. "Last term I was in third form. They moved me up a couple of years. I did the School cert. just last term, ahead of my own form."

"They moved you up two years?!" Darrell stared at her unbelievingly. Mam'zelle stepped in again. "Ah yes, Leoni is super-dooper smart! She won a very hard scholarship and is very bright. She will stream ahead, _n'est pas_?"

Moira looked doubtful. "Good luck for fifth form, but I dare say you'll find it rather different to the third. We must act much more maturely and work heaps harder."

Leoni shrugged, and took another piece of bread. She looked confident and not in the least scared. Darrell was amazed. "Well, two new girls, both as different as they could possibly be," she thought to herself. "I wonder how they'll settle in? Well, we'll soon find out!"

**_To be continued..._**

**_Please review!_**


	3. Chapter 3

**Dislaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories, but I did invent the new girls.**

**_Just to let you know, I have nothing at all against anyone who stutters! Gwen is just a meanie, that's all._**

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers. _Chapter three_**

The first morning bell woke everyone up with a start. In no time at all, the fifth formers were up and dressed, washing and preparing for the day. Darrell noticed Melanie sitting on her unmade bed, pale and with her scraggly hair all over her face, doing nothing. Her uniform was untidy and her shoelaces undone. Moira noticed her as well.

"Hey, you! Melanie! You'd better hurry up and make your bed. We get in trouble if the dormy's messy. Fold your clothes quickly and for goodness sake tie up your hair! It looks like a ruined bird's nest!"

Melanie blushed and pulled back her hair, tying it up. She pulled up her sheets, struggling as though they were extremely heavy. They twisted in all directions, making the bed even messier than before. Moira sighed aloud in frustration. "Haven't you made a bed before?" she asked, comparing Melanie's bundled roll of sheets to the smooth and neat beds of the others. "Even Gwendoline's bed is neater!"

"You don't have to be so mean Moira!" protested Gwen. "I always had servants to make my bed for me. Melanie did as well, didn't you Melanie?"

"No," the girl shook her head. "My-my-my mo-mo-mo-thhhhher did it fo-for me."

"Just as bad," commented Moira, looking and sounding very much like a teacher in charge. "You'll have to get used to the way of life here. We have to do many things for ourselves instead of waiting for _servants_ to wait on us." She looked at Melanie in scorn. Gwendoline also looked puzzled. Melanie was still stuttering. Surely, surely she didn't do that all the time? Gwen was a proud child, and didn't want a stuttering friend around her, no matter how rich she was! She would be an embarrassment. Mary-Lou felt sorry for Melanie.

"Here, let me help you." She began showing Melanie how to fold the sheets neatly. The other student watched carefully, red with embarrassment. Alicia snorted rather loudly. "Putting it on. Expects us to wait on her because she is oh-so-much better than us," she whispered to Darrell. At that moment Matron poked her head around the door.

"Melanie? Oh, there you are! Come here a minute, will you. I've gotten instructions from your mother and I need to give you a few things." Melanie sidled out of the room, shoelaces trailing along. When she was out of sight, Moira turned to everyone. "What a spoiled brat! We really need to put her in her place. Doesn't even know how to make a bed."

"I agree," said Alicia. "Mary-Lou, don't make her bed tomorrow morning. She can jolly well make it herself."

"Shouldn't we be nice to her?" asked Catherine. "I mean, she could just be nervous, never having been to school before."

"I'm confused as well," said Belinda. "She seems genuinely nervous, but I've never seen anyone so helpless. And she puffs and pants after the slightest things, like carrying some books upstairs."

"Maybe we should just give her a chance. We don't know for sure and she's only been here for one night!" exclaimed Darrell. The others agreed with her, even Gwendoline, who was still anxious to make friends with Melanie. After breakfast, they went to their classroom for the first lesson of the term. Miss James, their teacher, looked down at the students seated in front of her. The entire form was in the same class, with the students from all towers mixed together.

"Well, here we are with another term," she began. "Last term you were given the job of preparing the Christmas pantomime, which was a great success, I must say." A few girls whooped. Miss James waited for quiet. "This term, we are going to start preparing for the Higher School Certificate." The class groaned, all except for Leoni, who looked up with interest. "I know it's still quite a way away, but the sooner you start learning how to study _well,_ the better you will be when the time comes. Now, that means taking on extra coaching if you think it necessary. There are two new girls here this term. I don't expect them to be top of course, in their first term. I shan't be at all surprised if they are near the bottom! But there are a few students I would hope to _improve_, seeing as they have been at Malory Towers for many terms already." Gwendoline blushed, feeling the teacher's strict eyes fall on her. She knew she was slack when it came to studying, and was constantly bottom. Melanie, at the desk beside her, looked at her with pity.

Miss James then proceeded to hand out tests, so she would have records of the students' abilities. Darrell, who was quite bright, found them relatively easy. Alicia and Betty, both of whom had extremely quick brains, zoomed through. Most of the form found the tests easy, or at least average. A few, like Daphne, Maureen and Gwen, found them terribly challenging. Gwendoline seemed to take forever to complete a simple page of sums, and when Miss James collected them she sighed. Poor, as usual. Terribly low compared to the others.

Darrell watched Leoni work, curious as to how the ex-third former would find the fifth form work. To her surprise, the student didn't find them the least bit difficult. She completed them quickly and neatly, confident as ever. She even managed to obtain a higher score than Alicia! The girls were all astounded, and Alicia slightly annoyed. Who was this new girl, so fast and smart? Melanie suffered terribly during the test. The whole North Tower watched secretly as she wrote slowly and shakily, her writing messy and almost illegible. She left three quarters of the questions blank. To their surprise, Miss James didn't even raise an eyebrow at her paper, but filed it away, not even returning her score.

Break time came. Melanie disappeared, mumbling something about seeing Matron. Gwen walked out with the others, irritated that she had no one to talk to. Leoni stood on the edge of a crowd, listening to the conversation as the North Tower girls told the others about Melanie, but not saying anything. Gwendoline approached her, trying to be nice.

"So Leoni! You found the tests pretty easy, didn't you?"

"Yes, unlike you!" Leoni tossed a braid over her shoulder, nose in the air. Gwen stared at her in disgust. "You don't have to speak like that," she said. "Just because I struggle in lessons doesn't give you the right to queen over me!"

"Well I'm surprised at you _Gwen_!" Leoni replied. "A fifth former, and you couldn't even remember twelve times seven!" A few girls sniggered. The whole form was watching with interest. Gwendoline blushed. "I'm sure you're not _that_ smart," she said, thoroughly annoyed that Leoni had watched so closely as she completed her test. Leoni stared at her blankly. "I reckon I'm smarter than most of you. I expect I'll be top."

"You, top?" Moira looked doubtful. "Ha! As if! You've been here only one day and already you're expecting top! Well, I can tell you now you won't get anywhere near there. Not with Alicia and Betty around! And Darrell and Sally!"

"Oh really?" Leoni pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. On it she had scribbled the scores of the others, the ones she had been able to pick up when their tests were returned. "Me, 49 and a half out of 50. This was for maths. Alicia, 47, Darrell 46, Betty, 47, _Moira 43_. Disgraceful Moira. At your age and you can't even beat me, and ex-third former!"

Moira lost her temper. "Now look here! That's no way to treat a fifth former!"

"I'm a fifth former too now," retorted Leoni, looking round at the astounded crowd, cool and calm as ever. "I'm just as equal as you."

"You give me that paper!" Moira tried to snatch it away. "You have no right to parade around, yelling out everyone's scores in public."

"No." Leoni tucked it in her pocket, smiling coolly. "I like to know who I'm up against. Only I needn't worry. With such brainless creatures as you I'm sure it should be terribly easy to beat you all! I thought fifth form would be hard, but it isn't. It's as easy as first form was!" And with that, she stalked out of the room.

"Well!" exclaimed Alicia, her face red. "What a stuck up creature! I vote we show her that she can't keep going on like this, thinking she's better than all of us. She's worse than Melanie!"

"She's terribly conceited!" agreed Darrell. "But I doubt she'll be top. Even if she did get good test results, they were only preliminary exams. Not fifth form level at all really."

"Maybe she's so nervous about being in fifth form, she thinks she has to live up to expectations," put in Mary-Lou, kind as usual.

"No," disagreed Moira. "She's not nervous at all. Just stuck up and badly in need of being squashed a bit. Well, she'll soon discover that the fifth form doesn't accept nonsense like that! No, not even if she does manage to be top!"

**_To be continued..._**

**_Please review! I like to know what people think._**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories.**

**_Sorry this chapter's a bit long. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed. Hope you enjoy._**

The first week of term passed quickly. Darrell was delighted when Sally finally arrived, and was quick to inform her of the new girls, and their behaviour. Sally, as usual, looked at the issue of Leoni with a calm demeanour. "She must be awfully smart, and I guess anyone with brains like that would find it hard not to act proud or conceited." The whole form was glad to have Sally back, for she was kind and liked by everyone.

Darrell often found time to talk to Felicity. Her younger sister listened to all the news of the fifth form, and shared stories with Darrell as well. When she heard about Melanie, she looked surprised. "Not at all like her sister! She has a younger sibling called May in my form. And she seems like a very organised person. Always running about, making sure everything is neat. She does an awful lot for her sister too. Always running off to see if she needs anything."

"Yes, that's strange," Darrell mused. "The other day I saw a girl who looked similar. Much bigger than Melanie even though she's younger, but with the same curly hair. She was _tying her shoe laces_ for her! Imagine that! Surely Melanie can bend down and do that herself? I know she's been ill but she always seems to put on a show."

It was true. Melanie soon got on everyone's nerves. She always seemed weak and helpless, often incapable of doing things for herself. Her stutter also proved to be permanent, and Gwen soon lost interest in her, after finding out that Melanie came from a poor family, and didn't share any of her interests in riches or family stories.

One day, during a game of lacrosse, Darrell, who was head of fifth form games, was asked by a games mistress to coach Melanie a little during the lesson. Darrell reluctantly agreed.

"Come on Melanie." She led the girl over to a free space of the field. "Why don't we practice some throws and catches?"

Melanie nodded, and held up her stick like a cricket bat. Darrell was quick to notice. "No, you hold it like this." She demonstrated with her own stick. "That's right. No, one hand has to be down, there! And you hold it like this! No, not like that. Like this!" Melanie tried to follow, confusing herself. Darrell soon got impatient. How long did it take to learn how to hold a simple lacrosse stick?

Melanie was just as bad at throwing as she as at everything else. Darrell asked her to toss the ball over to her, so she could show her how to catch. Melanie gripped the ball tightly, and then threw it weakly. The ball hit the ground a full five feet away from the waiting Darrell and rolled over the grass into a drain. Darrell sighed, loudly. Couldn't Melanie do anything?

The first formers came down to the field for their own practise time. May, Melanie's sister, ran over.

"Are you OK Melanie? Here, let me take your stick. I'll carry it back for you. Oh no! Your shoe lace is worn already! Don't worry. I'll buy you a new one!" Darrell watched in disgust as May took Melanie's stick and helped her over to a bench. Felicity ran up to her. "You see her? Waiting on her like she's a queen or something!"

"I know." Darrell nodded. "The thing is, I don't like to row her, because she isn't doing anything _wrong_. It's just spoiling Melanie. I wonder why as well. Melanie isn't any more important than May herself."

"Well, don't expect me to start treating you like royalty!" Felicity grinned. "By the way, June has thought of another trick to play on Mam'zelle!"

"Oh, what?" Darrell listened with interest. She remembered all the tricks her form had played on the unsuspecting French mistresses when they were in lower school. Felicity called June over, who ran up, grinning.

"I bought a little box of rubber frogs. They look terribly realistic. They come in a range of colours and sizes."

"What are you going to do, put one in the teacher's desk?"

"Yes, but that's not all." June caught a stray ball flying past and tossed it neatly back to the field. She was marvellous at sports but was never bothered enough to put in an effort. "When pressed, each of these frogs makes a different noise, and wriggles its legs in a very life-like manner. One quacks like a duck, another meows like a cat, another barks! All very lifelike!"

"That's marvellous!" Darrell's eyes shone. "What are you going to do with them?"

"We'll put one in Mam'zelle Rougier's desk. Suddenly, someone will say they heard a noise coming from inside. When Mam'zelle opens the desk, she'll see the frog. Mam'zelle Rougier detests frogs, so June will offer to pick it up, and she'll squeeze it as she does so, and it will make a most unusual noise! Mam'zelle will think she's gone bonkers!"

Darrell laughed. "I'd love to watch you do that! I say, for an upcoming assignment the fifth form has to do a study on a profession. I could choose teaching, and ask to sit through your class!"

"Oh yes!" Felicity bounced in excitement. "Do that Darrell! We're going to use a few different frogs, and stick them in different places, like on the black board. That way, Mam'zelle will find frogs all over the room!"

The plan was quickly spread throughout the first and fifth form. The fifth formers laughed when they heard about it.

"Those daring first formers!" exclaimed Irene. "I wish I could go as well. You're lucky Darrell, being allowed to sit through the class. I doubt you'll get many notes though. It will be like a madhouse."

"They're game to play it on Mam'zelle Rougier though," commented Clarissa. "She's so strict and prim and proper. She'll know it's a trick."

"Will she? Those frogs look terribly real. June is even going to spread slime on them, so they look wet!" Alicia, who had a great love of tricks, had been told all the details by her cousin, and approved of it tremendously. "They also have little sticky things under their feet, so they cling to any surface."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The day of the trick quickly approached. At the time of the first form French lesson, Darrell hurried to their classroom. The first formers were waiting excitedly outside, whispering and giggling in delight.

"The first frog is already in the desk!" someone whispered to Darrell. "Some of us have them in our pockets as well, so we can stick them in places when Mam'zelle isn't looking. The rest are in June's desk."

Footsteps along the corridor alerted everyone, and they lined up quickly. Mam'zelle Rougier appeared. She was tall and thin, with a strict, hard face and a tight bun on the back of her head. The class filed in, whispering excitedly. Mam'zelle told Darrell to sit at the back of the classroom. Darrell chose a spot with plain view of the front desk, and pulled out a notebook and pencil, ready to 'take notes'.

"Now, Bonjour everyone!"

"Bonjour Mam'zelle!" The class tried to look sensible, but one or two, like Nora, already seemed to struggle to keep a straight face.

"Now, please open your grammar books to page 47, and begin the exercise there." The first formers obeyed, longing for Mam'zelle to open her desk. She didn't. She simply sat there, watching them with keen eyes. Felicity decided to try a tactic.

"Mam'zelle, I'm having trouble with number 2, question b. Could you please explain it?" Mam'zelle didn't have her own copy of the grammar exercise. Her book was in the desk. Felicity hoped she would take it out to look at the question.

Mam'zelle didn't. She stood up and walked over to Felicity's desk. This was unusual, because Mam'zelle usually hated getting up from her desk. "Oh, this is quite easy, Felicity. Surely you should be able to do this!" Felicity tried to look struggling. Mam'zelle explained it curtly, and then returned to her seat.

For a while, silence reigned in the room. The desk remained closed. Darrell felt bored. Surely Mam'zelle wouldn't go the whole lesson without opening her desk? To her relief, the teacher told everyone to close their books.

"Now, we are going to read passages. Where is my book?"

"In your desk, Mam'zelle," spoke up Nora. Mam'zelle glared at her. "No Nora, here it is on the shelf. Please be quiet." Nora blushed.

June sighed. She was bored. She wanted Mam'zelle to open her desk, but she didn't seem to have anything inside it that she needed. She quickly scribbled a note and passed it secretly to Susan, who passed it on to Felicity.

"Please Mam'zelle!" Susan put up her hand. Mam'zelle looked up from her book sharply. "What is it Susan? We are just about to start!"

"Would you be able to write the pronunciation on the board? I would like to copy it down so I can remember the right way to say the words."

"Very well. I will write pronunciation for some new words." Mam'zelle prepared to stand up, but Felicity jumped up before her. "I'll clean the board," she said, running over and rubbing out the remains of the English lesson a previous class had left. The class watched, breathless. Felicity had a frog hidden in her hand. She was going to stick it onto the board!

As soon as Mam'zelle turned to pick up her book, Felicity stuck the little frog to the board and scurried back to her desk. It sat there, looking perfectly real. Darrell held her breath as Mam'zelle turned to the board. Would she scream? Would she jump?

The result was most unexpected. Mam'zelle caught sight of the frog. Her face turned red. She spun round to the class.

"You! You ignorant little bunch of first formers! You try to play a treek on me, Mam'zelle. You try to fool me! You try to make me scream and yell! You bad bad girls!" And with that, she grabbed the frog and flung it out an open window. She yanked open her desk. "You put one in my desk. You want to frighten me! But it not work! I tell you, it not work!" She also tossed the desk frog out the window, the rubber animal letting out a loud quack as it hit the window frame.

The class sat, stunned. Mam'zelle stormed over to June's desk. "Open your desk, June!" With shaking hands June obeyed. Inside was her collection of frogs. Mam'zelle grabbed them and threw them to the floor. As they hit the wooden floorboards their legs started kicking wildly, and a volley of moos, meows, snorts, barks and quacks filled the room. June stared at the wriggling animals in dismay. How did Mam'zelle know?

Suddenly, Mam'zelle turned to Darrell. "You, Darrell. I am ashamed of you. In the fifth form, and still you choose to come and watch these horrendous treeks! You come here specially to watch! I know! I KNOW!"

Darrel shrunk back, ashamed and frightened. The class looked at her with pity, every student white and shaking, except for June. June wasn't scared. She had gotten into worse scrapes before. No. June was irritated. Very irritated. How did Mam'zelle know? How did she know every detail of their trick?

**_To be continued..._**

**_Please review! I would like to know what you thought? Was it a good trick?_**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories, but I did invent the two new girls.**

**_Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, especially Nonnimus and A for Antechinus. I loved reading your reviews!_**

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers! _Chapter five_**

That night, after prep, Darrell related the sad news of the trick's failure to the other fifth formers. They listened, shocked and sorry for the whole first form, and Darrell.

"What a pity Mam'zelle knew!" said Belinda. "The first form must have gotten into a whole heap of trouble!"

"The strange thing is, most of the form got off pretty soft," explained Darrell, looking puzzled. "A majority of girls only had to learn a French poem by heart about 15 lines long. That is, except for Felicity and June. They had to learn the poem plus write out 200 times in French each, 'I must not play tricks in class. It is horrid'. They did groan about it!"

"It _is_ strange that Mam'zelle picked on those two," commented Mary-Lou. "They were the masterminds of the whole thing though, weren't they?"

"Yes," Alicia nodded. "I saw June wandering about, and she sure looked angry! She told me she plans to find out who told Mam'zelle about the trick. She's sure it was someone in the fifth form!"

"In the fifth?" Moira looked astounded. "But none of us tipped Mam'zelle! How dare she say such a thing! If she accuses one of us I'll be sure to give her a few pages from my punishment book!" She waved one of the small punishment books that fifth and sixth formers were allowed to use on misbehaving younger students.

"But it couldn't have been one of the first formers. Why would they get themselves into trouble?" asked Sally.

"I don't suppose one of the teachers found out?" asked Mavis.

"But how could they? It was all kept a secret. No one else was told except the first and the fifth, so it had to be someone from one of those forms." Darrell looked around the common room. She couldn't imagine anyone dobbing them in.

"What punishment did you get Darrell?" asked Irene, looking up from a tune she had been composing. Irene was always composing one tune or another.

"I have to learn a 30 line French poem and do double prep for two weeks!" groaned Darrell. "And tomorrow I have to go see Miss Grayling."

"Oh no! Good luck with old Grayling," said Belinda. "You'll get into an awful row."

"Yes, I know. I feel terribly ashamed." Darrell was not at all looking forward to the next day. That night, she tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, dreading the time when she would have to talk to the Head Mistress. Finally, she sat up. Everyone was sleeping soundly. She decided to go and get something to drink. Slipping on a dressing gown, she tiptoed out of the room and onto the landing outside. She made her way to the bathroom.

Darrell was just returning when she thought she heard soft steps around a corner. Curious, she peered around. She caught sight of a black shadow flitting across the wall. Someone was there! She tiptoed down the corridor, keeping to the shadows. Another shadow moved ahead of her. It was a small shadow, not big enough for an adult, in a flying dressing gown. It was a student!

Darrell hurried forward. Whoever was in front of her disappeared down some stairs, out of view. Puzzled, Darrell went back to bed. _'Maybe it was someone else getting a drink of water,' _she thought to herself as she pulled up her covers. _'Or maybe it was someone ill who went to Matron.'_ She kept pondering until finally she fell asleep.

The next morning dawned bright and clear. Darrell slept in a little while, tired from lack of sleep. The dormitory was loud and busy.

"Wake up sleepy head!" called Alicia. "There's been a robbery! In a North Tower dormy!"

"A what?!" Darrell jumped out of bed immediately. Her thoughts flew back to the person she had seen the night before. "What was stolen?"

"Someone's gold watch was taken!" said Belinda. "A second former just came by and told us. Photo frames are gone, and also some jewellery and a couple of vases. People are missing money as well. One whole dormy seems to have been raided."

"But surely they were asleep inside?" asked Darrell, her heart beating wildly. What a thing to happen!

"Yes, but no one heard a thing." Sally had already gone to the second form dormy to have a look. "The whole room has been taped off, like a crime scene. The thief came through a window! They grabbed the goods and left."

"Yes, their dormy is on the ground floor," spoke up Irene. "The thief climbed through and snuck around, taking anything that was of value. The police are here already!"

At that moment, a third former came up to the dormy and knocked politely.

"Come in!" called Moira. Everyone waited, hoping for news of the incident.

"Miss Grayling would like to see anyone who left their dormy after bed last night," said the third former. "She wants to know if anyone saw or heard anything. They must go at once."

Darrell quickly finished dressing and hurried to the head mistress' office. A few other girls were waiting outside, among them Melanie. She greeted Darrell with her usual stutter. Miss Grayling called them in, her face serious. It was only when she entered the room did Darrell remember that she was in disgrace. She sidled to the back of the group.

"Good morning girls. No doubt you have heard about this incident."

Everyone nodded. They were asked one by one why they had left their rooms, where they had been, at what time and if they had seen anything. A few girls had gone to get a drink. They had not seen anything. One girl had suffered sleep walking and had found herself in the middle of the library. She didn't know anything either. Melanie had gone to Matron because of a bad headache, as had another student. One by one, the girls were dismissed. Eventually, Darrell was the only one left.

"Well Darrell," asked Miss Grayling. "What have you to say?" She did not look at all angry. Could it be she had forgotten about the trick in the excitement?

"Well, I couldn't get to sleep so I went to get a drink of water," Darrell found herself shaking slightly. "I think it was about eleven or twelve, I'm not sure. On my way back I saw another student walking down the passage. They went downstairs and I didn't see who it was."

"Downstairs?" asked Miss Grayling, looking puzzled. "No one else on your level went downstairs, except Melanie, but she went to Matron much later, at about two o'clock. Who could it have been?"

"I...I'm not sure. I don't....I don't suppose they could have been the _thief_?" Darrell was also curious. Who had it been? Miss Grayling looked horrified at the suggestion. "I certainly hope it wasn't. I doubt it very much. This looks very much like a professional job. The window was forced open from outside, and gloves were worn to prevent fingerprints. No Malory Towers girl would go through the window when she could simply enter through the door."

"I suppose you're right Miss Grayling. I'm glad I didn't see the thief, and I'm glad they're not from Malory Towers. The person I saw must have forgotten to come see you."

"Yes, I'll check about that. They may have seen something!" Miss Grayling began stacking some papers on her desk and Darrell turned to go. "Wait a minute Darrell, I haven't finished with you."

Darrell turned back, nervous. Here it was. The reprimand. The disgrace. The punishment.

"I understand you were involved in a little incident regarding Mam'zelle Rougier." Miss Grayling looked calm as ever.

Darrell blushed, and looked down. "Yes Miss Grayling. I'm awfully sorry. It was silly of me, and I shouldn't have encouraged the first form." She rubbed her nose, something she always did when sorry or ashamed. "Especially at my age. A fifth former shouldn't act like that. I'm sorry."

"Well, I'm certainly glad to hear it." Miss Grayling actually smiled. "And I'm glad you realise your mistakes. Run along now. And make sure I don't hear of anything like that again."

Darrell practically fled from the room, full of joy. Miss Grayling hadn't been angry! She hadn't given her a lecture or punishment! She was forgiven, knowing that Miss Grayling trusted her not to act so immaturely again.

"The waiting was really punishment enough, it was so awful," said Darrell to herself as she skipped to breakfast. She passed the second form dormy. Yellow tape was stretched across the door and two detectives were searching inside. Darrell shivered as she passed. "I certainly hope they catch that thief! My goodness, such a lot of excitement happens at school!"

**_To be continued..._**

**_Please review!_**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories but I invented the new girls.**

**_Thank you very much to everyone who has reviewed, especially Nonnimous and A for Antechinus. Thanks also to Dolphin-99 who read this before it was posted and pointed out some grammer/punctuation mistakes._**

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers! _Chapter six_**

The excitement over the robbery soon died down after a few weeks. The dormy was cleared and then put back to use. The school's insurance helped to replace the stolen items, since the robbery had been classified as an 'outside' incident. Although it was no longer talked about among the girls, many of them felt jittery at night, and sometimes a plain-clothed detective was seen wandering around the grounds, keeping an eye out for any suspicious intruders.

The fifth form had soon settled down into a busy routine of work and sports. Darrell tried hard, anxious to get a place near the top of the form when everyone was marked and ordered. Sally was also a good worker, and the two studied like crazy. Darrell, being head of fifth form games, was also responsible for coaching lower students, and helped to choose match teams for sporting events against other schools. This added more work to her already full schedule.

The fifth form exams for half-term approached. Some of the brighter students felt tense and nervous, all hoping for top. Darrell was surprised one day when she walked into the common room to find Alicia sitting at a table, studying.

"Alicia!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" snapped Alicia. "I'm studying!" She turned back to her opened book and notes.

"Yes, but I've never seen you study so hard, in fact you hardly study at all!" Darrell was right. Alicia was so quick she could learn and memorise in a few seconds. The girl sighed, and put down her book, rubbing her eyes.

"I know I never study. But this term, I am. I won't have that irritating Leoni get the pleasure of beating me at half term!" Alicia picked up her book again. "I can just imagine her showing off in front of the others."

Darrell said nothing, but walked out of the room. She knew what Alicia meant. She herself was worried about Leoni, and so was Sally and Moira. At first they had scoffed at the girl's talents, but as the term wore on, they had realised that she _was_ in fact quite capable of achieving much higher scores than any other girl in the fifth, or even the sixth!

"It isn't the fact that she's so smart that annoys me," Darrell said to Sally one day. "But the fact that she shows it off in front of everyone. I wouldn't mind being beaten by her if I wasn't so sure she would tell the whole world and rub it in!"

Sally nodded. "And it's not that she's just good at lessons. She's good at everything! She's a wonder at sports. They put her in the highest match team instantly, even though she's only been here less than a term. In art class she astounds everyone with her lifelike drawings. Some might even say she's better than Belinda, and we all know that she is the top artist here."

"Yes," agreed Darrell. "In singing she sings like she's been trained all her life, and she says she hasn't had a single singing tutor. In music class her compositions are so good they are going to be displayed at half-term. Irene's never were, even though they're as good as professional pieces. In sewing she's so fast she finishes what would take weeks in a few days, and of course in normal lessons she just whizzes through. She's an ultimate Mary-Sue! Perfect at everything!"

"No she's not. She's not so perfect at making friends."

Darrell had to agree with Sally. Leoni _was_ finding it hard to make friends. No one could stand her, so she spent most of her free time alone, reading. The only person who would talk to her was Melanie, but she stuttered so much and took so long to finish a sentence that Leoni grew impatient and walked away! Poor Melanie was often left behind, unable to keep up with the others. A few spiteful ones, like Alicia and Moira, were sure she was putting on an act, and said so to the others. Some kinder students thought she simply suffered from high nerves or a medical condition, while others thought she was just a silly, weak creature. There was a lot of argument and disagreement over Melanie's actions, and she was often left alone and friendless.

Half-term soon approached. Darrell sat nervously in class, waiting for Miss James to read out the current placings. The whole form was tense, especially Alicia and Betty, who usually scored a high mark.

"Well girls I'm sure you are all looking forward to hearing the half-term places." Miss James ruffled her papers and pulled up her reading glasses. "First, we have Leoni. Second, Alicia. Third, Betty and Darrel tie. Fourth, Sally. Fifth..."

Everyone turned to look at Leoni. She sat at her desk, staring round at the others, a smug, triumphant look on her pale face. She smirked at Alicia, who buried her face in a book, smarting with disappointment. Darrell also felt unhappy. No matter how hard she tried, it seemed Leoni could always get better!

Break time came. As soon as Leoni entered the common room, Moira stood up. "Now, not a word about you coming top or you'll be sorry!" Leoni shrugged and went to sit down. "Pity you couldn't beat Alicia, Darrell!" she exclaimed. "And you were trying so hard!"

"You be quiet!" commanded Moira. "I said nothing at all about you coming first."

"But I wasn't talking about my place," said Leoni, pretending to be meek. "Sorry Miss High-and-Might Moira, but I said nothing at all about my score. I was talking about Darrell's score. Why don't I talk about yours? What a shame you only came seventh! Poor Moira! The head girl, who found that six others queen over her when it comes to lessons!"

Sally noticed Moira's face begin to turn red. She didn't want an argument, so she tried to change the topic. "I can't wait for my parents to come tomorrow! Is everyone else going out for half term?"

"I am!" Darrell caught on to what Sally was trying to do. "Mary-Lou, you're going out with Daphne, aren't you?"

Leoni saw a chance to talk about her own abilities again. "_I'm_ not going out. I am participating in too many activities."

It was true. Leoni was in demonstrations, mini-concerts, talks and presentations the whole half term. Darrell felt sorry for her. How horrid not to see your parents at half term! "Where are you going, Melanie?" asked Irene.

"I-I-I-I'm no-no-no-"

"You're not going out!" Moira finished for her. "Don't worry. We get it. Why?"

"Be-be-be," Melanie's glasses slipped down and she shoved them back up her nose. ""Be-be-cause I-I-I-my-my-my mo-o-ther is-is-is overseas and-and-and my fa-a-a-ther has to wo-wo-work." She sat back, tired from speaking such a long sentence. Some girls had zoned out, losing interest with her and turning to talk about other things. Only a few were still listening.

"You're not going out with anyone?" Sally asked kindly.

"No, it's OK. I want-want to-to-to cat-cat-catchhhhh up on-on-on some wo-wo-work." Melanie blushed, remembering how she had placed bottom. Sally offered to let the girl go out with her simply out of kindness, but Melanie declined, saying she also had to attend a doctor's appointment.

"Poor Melanie!" began Leoni again. "Bottom. Terribly sad. Maybe you'll do better next term?"

"BE QUIET!" yelled Moira, so loudly Darrell was sure the whole floor had heard her. A first former outside ran off in terror. "Stop picking on people lower than you. There's no need to rub it in when someone gets a lower score. I don't think you'd like it if someone beat you and then kept going on and on about it."

"But Moira, _no one_ has ever beaten me." Everyone listened in stunned silence. Leoni seemed prepared to say more but one look at Moira's glaring scowl cause her to think better of it. She left the room, leaving behind a very shocked and irritated group of fifth formers. Really, Leoni was becoming quite a nuisance!

**_To be continued..._**

**_Please review!!!!_**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories but I did invent the new girls.**

**_Just to let you know, I have absolutely nothing against people who stutter. I do not wish to offend anyone at all with this story. _**

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers! _Chapter seven_**

The half term weekend was a lovely, sunny one. Most of the students were going out with parents or friends. Darrell and Felicity waited impatiently for their parents to arrive. When they spotted the car, Felicity leapt madly off the steps and rushed through the crowd, pushing and shoving in her eagerness, while Darrell followed, laughing, at a calmer pace. Their parents took them both out for an all-day picnic, and they had a lovely time.

"So Darrell, tell me all about the two new girls you wrote about," said Mrs Rivers, pouring hot tea from a thermos.

"Oh, I would have thought you'd heard enough about them!" Darrell took a bite of chicken and cucumber sandwich. "Leoni came top. Alicia was terribly annoyed. Leoni made a great fuss about it. Everyone's sick of her!"

"I should think so!" commented Felicity. "And Melanie? Her sister May is still rushing off all the time to do things for her. Bought her a new watch the other day, and it wasn't even her birthday. Apparently it had real gold in the border!"

"She must be very generous," said Mrs Rivers. "To look after her sister like that."

"Maybe Felicity should follow her example," grinned Mr Rivers. Felicity made a face. "Of course not! She does simply _everything_ for her sister. She once tied her shoe laces for her, she once dried her hair for her. She even does all of her mending!"

"Melanie is really behind," said Darrell. "She does everything really slowly, like taking forever to write her name on the top of her work, and she stutters all the time. No one has much patience with her."

"Poor child. Sounds like no one likes her." Mrs Rivers looked sorry for Melanie. "I hear she was ill."

"Well, she said she was ill for a long time, so she never went to school," explained Darrell. "She says she's fine now. She's always asking us to do things for her. The other day she asked me to pick up a book she dropped on the floor!"

The rest of the day passed quickly. At five o'clock, Darrell and Felicity were returned to school. As she hurried up to her dormy to put away her hat, Darrell found Leoni on the stairs, grumbling aloud.

"Hi Leoni. What's up?"

"Look what someone's done!" Leoni held up one of her best artworks, a sketch of Malory Towers. Darrell gasped in astonishment. Someone had used a thick red marker to scribble all over the drawing. '_Leoni is a stuck-up brat. Leoni is a stuck-up brat',_ was written all over the picture.

"Whoever did that?" asked Darrell. "It's horrible to tell you things like that!"

Leoni shrugged. "How should I know? Some horrid person who's probably jealous of me. I know everyone in the form talks about me. As if I care!" She stalked off, looking indignant. Darrell felt a pang of guilt, knowing how often she had gossiped about Leoni behind her back. And Leoni knew! She hurried to the dormy to find Sally and a few others. She quickly told them about Leoni's picture.

"Well, none of us did it," said Alicia. "We all went out, except Melanie, and she apparently spent her time in the library."

"Her picture was fine this morning," said Belinda. "I went to the art exhibition and saw it."

"I don't remember seeing that picture anytime in the afternoon when _I_ went to have a look," said Catherine. "So it must have happened sometime around lunch."

"It must have been a fifth former," said Mary-Lou. "Who else would feel spiteful against Leoni?"

"Well, the only one of us who didn't go out today was Melanie!" declared Alicia. "I bet it was her!"

"But why would Melanie do something like that?" asked Irene.

"Why, because Leoni openly teased her about her half term mark," guessed Moira. "Either that or she's jealous. Leoni is so much smarter than her."

"Look, we don't know if it was Melanie. She doesn't seem like the sort of person who would do a spiteful trick on someone like that." Sally frowned thoughtfully. "I don't think we should accuse her yet."

Moira and Alicia didn't like Sally's idea, but the others persuaded them to keep quiet until they knew more.

The next day, Darrell and Felicity received a message saying their parents had had to go home quickly. Their father was a surgeon, and had been called to an urgent case. Their mother had decided to go home with him. Darrell was bitterly disappointed. The message had come late, when most people had left. Felicity's friend Susan, whose parents arrived late, took Felicity out, but Darrell was left alone, with no one to talk to.

Trying not to sulk, Darrell wandered through the various exhibitions, looking at the artworks and sculptures created by the students. Leoni's wonderful works were all on display, except the ruined one. No more of her pictures had been sabotaged. Bored, Darrell headed back indoors, planning on going to the library to read. She passed the practice music rooms on the way, and was surprised to see Melanie inside one. Melanie had never shown any interest or talent for music.

Curious, Darrell peered through the window in the door. Melanie was sitting at the piano, a book propped up before her on the music ledge. She was holding a little tape recorder in her hand, and was reading aloud.

"So that night, Katie snuck out of the house when all was dark, and began creeping towards the barn. Owls hooted and..."

Darrell nearly fell over in amazement. No stutter! Melanie was talking with no stutter! She suddenly felt angry. Melanie must have put it on, so that the others would feel sorry for her and do things for her. Of all the sneaks, she had to be the worst!

Darrell flung open the door and stormed in to confront Melanie. "Melanie! I head you talking without a stutter! How come? Don't tell me you've been putting it on all this time!"

Melanie was shocked to see the enraged Darrell. She cowered in her seat, trembling. "I-I-I was just-just-just re-re-reading a-..."

"Stop stuttering!" Darrell shook the girl by the shoulders. "I heard you talking perfectly just then. So don't try and trick me!"

"I-I-" Melanie's mouth opened and closed like a goldfish, no words coming out. Darrell waited. "Well? Come on! Speak!"

"I wa-wa-was ju-just read-reading wi-wi-wi-wi-with m-m-" Darrell didn't wait to let her finish. She turned and hurried out of the room, fuming. She ran to the library and flung herself into a quiet corner. She could feel her cheeks burning. Darrell's hot temper was well known around the school. She had lost it again! 'Was I too harsh?' she thought to herself. 'But she's been tricking us all this time. What else has she faked? The shaking? The helplessness?'

Darrell spent the rest of the day thinking about her fight and her temper. She was glad when people started returning to school. She hurried to the common room to meet her form. A quick glance showed her that Melanie was not present. "Guess what everyone!" she exclaimed. Everyone stopped what they were doing to listen. "You'll never guess what I just discovered..."

**_To be continued..._**

**_Please review!_**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories but I did invent the new girls.**

**_To Nonnimus: Don't worry! Leoni is going to get a very very very bad fall. I dislike her personality as well. But I already feel sorry for what I'm going to do to her!_**

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers! _Chapter eight_**

Darrell quickly told the others about how she had seen Melanie talking without a single stutter.

"It was perfect! I didn't hear one little bit of stutter," she said. The others looked at her in amazement and disbelief.

"Well well well," said Alicia coolly. "Seems like our dear Melanie is quite an actress."

"But why would she put on a stutter?" asked Mary-Lou, distressed by the news. She was a very kind girl and felt sorry for people like Melanie who were ill or weak. They were the only ones who didn't intimidate her!

"It all fits in with her ill past," said Moira. "She's been ill and wants to use it as an excuse to have us wait on her, hand and foot, like her sister. A stutter ties in perfectly. She probably assumed we'd take it as an extreme case."

"But surely her own _sister_ knows she doesn't really have one?" asked Belinda. "And all the teachers? They put up with her, even though I've seen them look a bit impatient."

"I reckon they _don't know_ it's all a fake!" declared Moira. "I don't know of any medical cure for stuttering, so she probably put it on and tricked everyone, even her parents, knowing they couldn't do anything about it!"

"Her own parents?" Everyone looked shocked. How could someone be as low down as that? To play a trick on their own parents for pity and attention! Sally looked grim. "We don't know for sure she's putting it on. Maybe practice helps get rid of it?"

"Not like that," said Darrell. "You don't talk perfectly one second and then stutter away like a goose the next."

"What was she doing when you found her Darrell?" asked Irene.

"She was sitting at the piano reading aloud."

"Reading aloud?" Sally looked confused. "Why would she read aloud to herself?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe she wants to practice speaking 'normally' so that her stutter doesn't become a habit. If she got so used to it she may never be able to throw it off. She would never dare practice in front of us, so she snuck to the music room to do it alone. I don't think she plans on having it forever."

"Why would she act like that though?" asked Catherine. "Doesn't she realise that we all get exasperated with her?"

"Maybe she doesn't care about friends," suggested Belinda. "All she wants is to use illness as an excuse. She gets out of everything! Walks, swimming, sport, dictation, sometimes even prep!"

Everyone was silent for a moment. It was all very confusing! Melanie was certainly a strange person. Finally, Moira stood up. "Well, I'm going off right now to find that Melanie and give her a piece of my mind!" She turned to the door, but Sally called her back. "Wait! We still don't have any proof. Darrell was the only one who saw her. Shouldn't we wait until a few more of us have observed her behaviour as well?"

"You don't believe me?!" cried Darrell indignantly.

"Of course we believe you," said Sally. "But remember, you flew into a temper, and when you're in a temper, you don't always see things clearly as they really are. If another one of us sees Melanie talking without a stutter, then we'll ask her to explain herself. She may have a perfectly good reason for doing so!"

A few others agreed with Sally. Moira reluctantly held back, but she seemed like an impatient tiger, waiting for the chance to jump at Melanie and interrogate her. Darrell sighed, and went to her closet to put away a jumper. As soon as she opened the door she had a nasty surprise.

"Look at this!" she yelled. Everyone scrambled over to her wardrobe. There, scrawled in bright red paint on the back panelling, were the words, "_You are an awful beast Darrell. You deserve to be expelled!_"

"Now who wrote that?" asked Irene. "It was awfully mean of them."

"I'll say it is!" Darrell slammed shut the door, her eyes flashing. "I bet it was Melanie. She had reason to be angry with me. I haven't offended anyone else!"

"Yes, it must have been her," agreed Alicia. "She's annoyed that you found out her little secret and used this as a way to get back at you!"

The supper bell rang, and everyone filed down to the dining room. The other North Tower fifth formers from other dormitories were quickly told about Melanie. Miss Potts was taking charge that evening. "Do you think you should report the message Darrell?" asked Catherine. Darrell shook her head. "No. It was just an act of spite. I'll clean away the message, but if I get any more trouble from that Melanie I'll definitely have a talk with her!"

The fifth formers ate their supper sullenly, all thinking about Melanie, who was mysteriously absent from the table. Miss Potts was surprised at the quiet behaviour of the girls. Usually they were one of the noisiest tables! "Are you feeling alright girls?" she asked, concerned.

"Yes Miss Potts."

Moira suddenly spoke up. "Miss Potts, where's Melanie?"

"Melanie?" Miss Potts was surprised that Moira should ask about the student who had so often been ignored. "She's with Matron. Developed a bad headache, I believe."

Alicia hissed something to Darrell. "Putting it on, so she doesn't have to face us all."

After supper, everyone went to their common room. Melanie was nowhere to be seen. Belinda produced a board game and for a while everyone amused themselves with games or books. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" called Moira absent-mindedly, intent on finding the best place to move her game piece. The door swung open and someone marched in confidently. It was May. Her wild shock of curly hair hung around her face and she looked worried. She was clutching a brown paper bag behind her back.

"Where's my sister?" she asked, in a loud voice.

"Who?" asked Moira rudely, not even bothering to look up from her game.

"Melanie," replied May, tossing her head. Darrell thought she looked just like June, confident and loud.

"Miss Potts said she had a headache." Moira tossed the dice to Irene and leaned back in her chair. "She's probably in the San. Why?"

"In the San.? With a headache?" May sighed, rustling the bag. "Do you know when she'll be back?"

"I expect she'll spend the night there," said Sally. "If you want us to give her something, we can pass it on."

"Oh, er, no." May tried stuffing the bag inside her pocket but it was too big. She twisted it round in her hands. "It's OK, I'll leave it in her locker." Without another word she marched over to the line of lockers on one side of the common room. She went straight over to Melanie's and began turning the combination lock.

"Do you know her number?" asked Alicia.

"Oh yes." May pulled down on the lock and it clicked open. She swung open the locker door and shoved the paper bag among the books inside. "Melanie tells me everything." Slamming the locker shut, she locked it and walked off. As soon as she was gone Alicia jumped up.

"Right. I don't care what you say. I'm going to find out what was in that bag!" She hurried over to the lockers.

"But you don't know Melanie's combination!" exclaimed Darrell.

"Yes I do!" Alicia began twisting the lock, not hesitating in the least. "I watched the numbers May put in and memorised them!"

Darrell sighed. That was just like Alicia, sneaky and quick. In a few seconds, the lock was opened the Alicia pulled open the door. She dug around through the locker's contents and finally pulled out the crinkled paper bag. "Here it is!"

Eagerly, everyone crowded around as Alicia peeled off the tape sealing the bag and pried it open. What would they find inside?

**_To be continued..._**

**_Please review!!_**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories but I did invent the new girls.**

**_More about Melanie. If you're wondering about Leoni, it's coming up soon._**

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers! _Chapter nine_**

Everyone stared in surprise at the little white bottle Alicia held in her hands. She turned it around carefully. Its blue lid was sealed, showing that it had not been opened. Darrell took it and squinted at the label.

"Anyfyrolixcilin," she read with difficulty. "It's seems like some sort of medicine!"

"Medicine? Let me have a look!" Moira snatched it away and examined it. "Golly, look at the price! 12 pound for this tiny bottle!"

Everyone jostled to look at the bottle. It was a strict rule in the school that all medicine had to be given to Matron, who administered it appropriately. No one was allowed to take _anything_ without the knowledge of the staff. Alicia took the bottle and twisted the lid. It popped off to reveal a thick, white, sickly-sweet smelling liquid inside. She gave it a tentative sniff.

"It's medicine alright!" she said as she replaced the lid. "My brother's taken something like this once. Can't remember what for."

"It must be taken to Matron," said Moira, slipping the bottle into her pocket. "I'm going to give it to her right now."

"You won't say anything about Melanie's stuttering will you?" asked Mary-Lou. "Or about the mean message?"

"Not yet," said Moira. "After all this lands in quite a different category. Sneaky breaking of the rules, I call it! Matron will know how to deal with her. I won't report on anything else _yet_." She hurried out of the room. Darrell sighed.

"The mystery of Melanie deepens every minute," she said. "I can't think why her sister would have it though."

"If it was new why hasn't it been used yet?" asked Leoni, joining in the conversation for once. "It looked like it had just been purchased, but wouldn't it have been brought at the beginning of term?"

"Perhaps it's something Melanie uses often," said Irene. "And this is part of the supply."

"I don't know!" Darrell picked up a book. "But right now, I just want to forget all about Melanie and have a good read!"

The next morning, while everyone was preparing for breakfast, Melanie silently sidled into the dormitory. Her nose was red and her eyes watery. It was obvious that she had been crying. No one said a word to her as she rummaged around in her drawers to find a hairbrush. Everyone guessed that she had received a very sound scolding from Matron over the medicine.

Before everyone left the room, Moira checked over everything. The whole form would receive an order mark if the dormy was not left neat and tidy. Order marks were like penalties against the form, and if too many were accumulated, punishments occurred. Satisfied that everything was in place, everyone went down to breakfast.

It was in the first lesson of the day that the trouble started. Just before class, Betty came running up to Moira.

"Moira! Why haven't you made your bed? Go and do it at once before a teacher sees. You're lucky I walked past the dormy and spotted the mess. Do you want to get us all an order mark?"

Embarrassed, Moira ran to the dormy. She clearly remembered neatly tidying her things that morning. Whatever could Betty mean? Upon reaching the dormy, Moira was shocked to see her bed in a total mess! The sheets had been pulled out and tangled, and the contents of her drawers had been strewn all over the floor. As quickly as she could, Moira remade her bed and tidied away her belongings. Extremely puzzled, she hurried back to class, arriving late and receiving a ticking off from Mam'zelle Doupont.

The fifth form's French lesson had hardly started when Matron came to the door. She looked stern and cold.

"Excuse me Mam'zelle, but is Moira in this class?"

Everyone turned to look at Moira, who stood up, red in the face. What could have happened now?

"Moira, please explain to me exactly what you did this morning."

"Why Matron, I got up like all the others, dressed and went down to breakfast."

"You did not speak to any teachers or run any errands?"

"No Matron." Moira's face was a flurry of confusion. What was Matron getting at?

Matron looked at Moira, her eyes hard and strict. "Then I believe there was absolutely NO reason why you should have left your bed unmade, left your clothes lying on the ground, your drawers open, your towel half in a pool of water in the sink and your homework on the floor!"

Everyone gasped. Usually Moira was such a neat and orderly person! Moira looked around, as if in a daze. "But Matron! I-I cleaned up the room just before the lesson began! I made my bed and everything!"

"No 'buts' Moira. Come along!" And to Moira's horror, Matron took her firmly by the arm and led her away to the dormitory, calling over her shoulder, "That's an order mark against the whole form I'm afraid!"

Everyone groaned. Mam'zelle, who was quite stunned, began writing work on the board. Everyone settled down, but their thoughts, instead of being focused on the verbs 'come', 'go', 'arrive' and 'leave' in French, were fixed on Moira.

Half way through the lesson Moira returned, fuming. Angrily she sat down at her desk and yanked out her book. She furiously scribbled a note when Mam'zelle had her back turned and passed it around the class. 'Someone deliberately messed up my part of the room to get me in trouble!' it read. To that, there was only one name in every girl's mind. Melanie.

Only ten minutes later, Miss Potts came to the door. She glanced around the room, her eyes finally stopping on Moira. "Moira, stand up!" she commanded. Moira stood up immediately, her face clouded with disbelief. "Not...not the dormy," she stuttered. Miss Potts glared at her. "No, not the dormy. I want to talk to you about the state of the common room. Your locker is hanging right open and all your belongings are lying messily on the floor! Some books of yours are carelessly lying on the ground waiting for someone to trip over, and you left the radio on! Come at once to clean it up! I'm ashamed of you Moira. That's an order mark against the whole form now!"

**_To be continued..._**

**_Please review!_**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories.**

**_Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't updated for ages. I've been super busy, and you might say I have a tad of writer's block for this story. I'm not exactly sure where to go next. I mean, I've got a vague idea of what I want to happen, but should I do the climax now, or a little later? Is the story getting too long and tedius, do you want the real exciting (well, I'll try to make it exciting) things to go now, or will that end it too soon? This si just a short, sort of 'continuing' chapter to get to the next lot of events. Hope you enjoy it!_**

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers! _Chapter ten_**

As soon as lessons were over, everyone rushed to the common room, all waiting talking about Moira. She sat in a corner, ranting and raging to herself, furious.

"Everything to do with me was in a total mess!" she said angrily. "Everything! The teachers wouldn't believe me when I said I had nothing to do with it."

"And now we've got two order marks," groaned Alicia.

"Well, it wasn't my fault." Moira's face was red with fury.

"Someone must have messed up the rooms this morning, before lessons began," mused Darrell.

"I made my bed three times this morning!" continued Moira.

"Three times? So they messed up your bed twice?" Darrell saw the whole incident as a mystery.

"Yes. Just before the lesson Betty told me the room was a mess. I went and cleaned it up, but someone ruined it again!"

"That means that person either had free time this morning, or did it quickly before the lesson," said Sally, anxious to solve the person who kept playing tricks.

"I bet it was Melanie!' growled Moira. "She came late to the lesson!"

"She said she had to take medicine from Matron," said Irene. "That _is_ a legitimate excuse."

"But it also meant she had time to mess up the dormy," pointed out Alicia. "Haven't you noticed that all these tricks happen after someone does something to her? Leoni's picture was ruined after she made fun of Melanie's score. Darrell's cupboard was covered in graffiti after she caught Melanie speaking without a stutter, and look what's happened to Moira after she told Matron about the medicine and invariably got Melanie into trouble!"

Everyone sat silent for a while. Alicia was right. All the bad occurrences happened just after Melanie was teased or hurt in some way. The silence was broken by a knock at the door. June and Felicity came in. "GET OUT!" yelled Moira. Her temper was really at its worst stage, and she never had any patience with June. Felicity backed out in fright but June remained where she was. "What's up Moira?" Moira then gave June such a poisonous glare that the first former thought better of answering back and left the room. Darrell went out to talk to her.

"Don't mind Moira," she said. "She's had a terrible shock."

"What happened?" asked Felicity.

Darrell told them all about Moira, and the mean trick played on her, as well as about Melanie.

"That's terrible!" exclaimed Felicity, shocked that someone could be so spiteful. "And that's going against the whole fifth form as well, because of the order marks!"

"The things fifth formers do," June said, making a tutting noise with her tongue. "Always fighting."

"You be quiet," snapped Darrell. "You're lucky nothing like this is happening in _your_ form."

"Well, it did in a way," said Felicity. "That person who spoiled our trick on Mam'zelle. June is still determined to find out who it was."

"Yes," said June. "I'm going to do a little test."

"What?" asked Darrell, curious. "I hope I won't get involved like I did last time."

"Don't worry, you won't," assured Felicity. "You remember those frogs? The ones which made animal noises?"

"Oh yes." Darrell shuddered at the rememberence of the failure.

"Well, June's got another one, but _much _better. Show it June!"

June pulled out another rubber frog, exactly like the ones she had used before. She also pulled a small remote device out of her pocket. "I can control the frog, see?" The frog leaped around on the carpeted floor. "And when I push this button, it croaks, see?"

"That's marvellous!" agreed Darrell. "But what's all this about a 'little test'."

"I want to see if the person who dobbed us in is in the first form or the fifth form," said June. "You are not to tell anyone at all in the fifth form, but I will tell everyone in the first form. If we get in trouble, we'll know that it's someone from the first form. If we don't, then I'll try again with the fifth form knowing."

"Sounds like a very complicated plan to me, and very dangerous," mused Darrell. "You'd get into awful trouble playing the same trick again. Can't you just forget about the whole thing and take it as simply a mean trick?"

"No." June was firm in her decision. "Now, don't you tell _anyone_."

"Don't worry, I won't."

June and Felicity walked back down the corridor towards their own common room, discussing their plans carefully. On the way they met Melanie, shuffling slowly towards her dormy.

""Well, it's Melanie, is it?" asked June in a smirking voice. Melanie hung her head. May had told her all about June. "Where are you off to now? Going to mess up a few beds? Or perhaps purchase a few order marks off Miss Potts?"

Melanie looked at June, her cheeks blazing. "I-I-I..." Before even finishing her sentence, she sighed and hurried off.

"You shouldn't have said that June," hissed Felicity. "Darrell did say they had no proof."

"Do you think I care?" asked June, whistling merrily. "I don't care tuppence about any of the fifth form dramas. It's time that lazy fifth form get to the bottom of Melanie's tricks, and teach her a lesson themselves!"

**_To be continued..._**

**_Please review! And even if it's a bit of a wait, I AM planning on continuing, so yeah. Bear with me!_**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories.**

**_Thank you to everyone who reviewed. This was sort of a spur of the moment chapter. Leoni hasn't been mentioned for a while, and as she's quite an important character, I thought she should witness this, event. I wasn't going to make it as dramatic as this, but oh well. Adds a bit of interest...I hope._**

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers! _Chapter eleven_**

That night, when everyone was fast asleep, Leoni lay awake, thinking. Usually she was a sound sleeper, but night she hadn't felt very well, with a sore throat and blurry eyes. She lay in bed, trying to doze off, trying not to cough too loudly in case she woke someone up. She tried to focus on an upcoming lacrosse game, which she was to participate in. Usually she was excited about games, but now it was becoming quite a bore. It was just too easy!

A noise outside the dormy interrupted her thoughts. Slowly, she sat up. She thought she could hear footsteps outside, quick, hurried ones. These were followed by some slower, plodding steps. Her throat felt ticklish, so Leoni decided that she may as well go and get a drink of water, and at the same time find out what was going on.

Silently swinging open the dormy door, Leoni stepped into the blazing light of the outside corridor. The electric light overhead flickered brightly. At this time of night it was meant to be off, only to be turned on by a mistress or in a grave emergency. Someone had left it on! At the end of the corridor, she caught sight of a dressing gown belt trailing along the floor as its owner quickly turned the corner.

Leoni quietly headed down the corridor and turned towards the stairs. They were in darkness, but she glimpsed a torchlight making it's way down. The bathroom was in the opposite direction, but she decided that her drink could wait. This was too unusual for her to miss. Slowly, she headed downstairs, following the bobbing light ahead. As they began walking down a darkened corridor and Leoni's eyes adjusted to the gloom, she could just make out the tall shadow of a teacher and the small, bundled-up-one of a student in a dressing gown. Both people entered Matron's room, which was brightly lit.

Was it simply someone who felt ill going to Matron? Leoni thought back to what she had seen. No. The mistress had looked very much like Miss Potts. Strict, stately Miss Potts, ready to hand out order marks if someone left a bed unmade. Would she really forget to switch off a corridor light, after giving the girls endless lectures on the rules? Why would a teacher escort someone from their dormy to Matron? How would they know if they were ill in the first place? Leoni was sure that something strange was going on, and she was determined to find out what it was.

Matron's room was right next to a small door opening onto the front driveway of the school. To Leoni's immense surprise, the door was wide open and Miss Grayling came in from outside! She hurried into Matron's room, looking grave. Leoni crept closer, and slipped behind an old cupboard, trying to catch what was being said inside.

What Leoni heard was very puzzling indeed. She could hear someone crying, someone crying very hard. She could hear a stuttering voice. Melanie! Melanie was talking to the person crying. The walls were thick and Leoni couldn't make out what Melanie was saying, but she recognised the distinctive stutter immediately. Miss Grayling's clear voice rang out after a click which Leoni took to be a telephone. "They'll be here soon. They're on their way."

Now Leoni was feeling very confused. Who was coming? Why was Miss Grayling there? Who else was in the room? Suddenly, there was the loud wail of sirens outside. Out of the side door, Lenoi saw two lights, one red, the other blue, flashing brightly in the darkness, heading up the driveway. She shrunk back in her hiding spot as Miss Grayling literally _ran_ outside. It was an ambulance!

Two officers carried a stretcher into the school, and both hurried into Matron's room, Miss Grayling anxiously following behind, saying something about 'I'll have to ring the head..." What on earth was happening?

**_To be continued..._**

**_Please review! This chapter was a bit weird. You can probably guess what's going to happen next. But I needed something to happen to this certain person. You probably know who it is. So yes, hope you like it._**

**_On a different note, just if you're interested, I was thinking that when I finish this story, I might write one about St Andrew's college, where Darrell and Sally and Alicia and Betty went afterwards. But I'm not sure yet. I'll finish this one first!_**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories.**

**_Well, here is the second half of the night chapter. Gwen wasn't in the story much so I put her in. Hopefully our dear friend Gwen will star a little more in the next chapters. And if you see 'Leoni' spelt as 'Lenoi' it's because my typing gets confused and her name keeps going on like that, and sometimes I don't even notice. I'll try and fix them. And thanks to everyone who has reviewed!! Thank you!!  
_****_  
Also, a few things. 1. There is NO drug smuggling or drug overdoses in this story. RELAX NONNIMUS!! :) Amofy- (i can't even remember the name) was just a random medicine name cause I needed a medicine name. It could have been panadol or anything. :)  
2. About the dormys. It never said but I think there's more than one for each form. Cause I counted and there are way too many people to go in one. I mean, how many go in each dormy? I would have thought about 10 or 8, but not the whole fifth form of North Tower! In the sixth form it mentioned that Darrell had a small dormy with only three others, so I think there can be more than one.  
3. This is slightly off the topic, but does anyone know how many terms there are per form? I mean, Darrell and Felicity never started with all the others. I don't get it. Is it three, or four? It would have to be at least three, but when Darrell started fourth, Felicity started first, but the first form had already started. When Darrell started fifth, Felicity was in her last term at first. That would mean that first form has at least four or even five terms! But wait Darrell started fifth at Christmas cause of the Christmas pantomime so do they start in October at the end of the year? Just wondering if anyone knows cause I'm lost when it comes to the terms._**

**_Wow, that was a lot of author notes. Sorry if I've bored you. On with the story..._**

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers! _Chapter twelve_**

Leoni shivered. She had forgotten to put on her dressing gown before she left the dormy, and a cold wind was blowing through the open door. A clock hung on the wall nearby and in the light from Matron's room she could see that it was past midnight. Outside in the darkness, the blue and red lights of the ambulance flashed silently. Leoni wondered whether anyone had woken up from all the noise. She hugged herself silently and waited, listening to every move inside Matron's room.

* * *

Leoni was right. Someone _had_ woken up back in a fifth form dormy. Gwendoline had been sound asleep as always, her carefully brushed golden hair spread out on her pillow like a sheet of gold, until her covers slipped off onto the floor, and she woke up from cold. She sat up, irritated, and yanked them back onto her bed. Leoni did not share her dormy, but even if she had Gwen was so sleepy she wouldn't have noticed any empty beds. She settled down to try and fall back asleep.

Gwen had just closed her eyes when loud sirens echoed around the school. She waited for them to pass, but instead they increased in volume, as if the emergency vehicle was approaching the school building. Frustrated, she sat up. How was she meant to sleep with all the noise? Moonlight shone through the crack in the curtains. No one else was awake. They had been fed a very good supper of hearty stew and hot cocoa and everyone was in deep sleep, dreaming peacefully.

Gwen was puzzled when the sirens abruptly stopped. By now she was wide awake, and decided to go and look out the window. Maybe someone had had a car accident right outside the school gates, and the police were there! She pulled on her dressing gown and plodded over to the window, pushing aside the curtains and peering down at the drive below.

What a sight met Gwen's eyes! A white ambulance was parked right next to the side door, the lights on it's roof flashing brightly up at her. And someone was being carried out on a stretcher!

Gwendoline watched on in amazement as Miss Grayling followed the ambulance officers and entered the back of the vehicle. She was obviously accompanying them to the hospital. Matron also came out to wave goodbye, along with a small figure, tightly bundled up in blankets and a dressing gown. Gwendoline was puzzled, and stared after the ambulance as it roared away, through the drive and out the gates, where the garderner was waiting to shut them behind it. Something exciting had happened, that was certain!

Matron and the girl disappeared back into the building. The gates were shut and bolted, and the front drive soon returned to it's normal peaceful status. With nothing more to see, Gwen made her way back to bed, but in the dark she accidentally bumped someone else's bed on the way.

Darrell woke up with a start as Gwen's bulky form rattled her whole bed, and sat up, annoyed.

"Gwen! What are you doing? I was having such a lovely dream until you-"

"Darrell, listen!" Gwen interruped, and in whispers she related all she had seen. Darrell looked at her with scorn.

"You've been dreaming Gwen. Go back to bed and get back to sleep!"

"But I haven't been dreaming. I just came from the window!"

"You must have sleep walked," said Darrell, lying back down and pulling up her cover. "People do that sometimes. You must have been sleeping so deeply you got up and wandered over to the window while you were half asleep and thinking about ambulances and sirens. The whole school is peaceful. I don't hear a thing!"

Gwen went back to bed, cold and grumpy. For a moment she wondered if she had, in fact, been dreaming. But it had all seemed so real! She snuggled under her covers, intending to spend a long time thinking and feeling sorry for herself, but within a few minutes she was fast asleep.

Darrell, on the other hand, had a harder time dozing off. She thought deeply about what Gwen had told her. Could it be true? But Darrell was sure that she would have heard something, or at least someone else like Sally or Alicia would have woken. She had quite forgotten about the energetic lacrosse practice in the afternoon, the particularly difficult prep they had been given, the large supper they had eaten their way through and the late bedtime after Irene spilled a whole jar of hand cream on the carpet and had spent half an hour cleaning it up with the dormy light switched on. Everyone had fallen into bed exhausted, and it was no wonder they slept through all the events!

Footsteps outside alerted Darrell to someone's presence in the corridor. She sat up, rubbing her eyes free from sleep. She jumped out of bed and walked over to the door, carefully opening it and peering out. The corridor light was switched on! And who else to come up but Leoni!

"Leoni! Whatever are you doing? And why did you switch on the electric light? You know we're not allowed to!"

Leoni was stunned to see Darrell in the corridor. "Oh, hi Darrell. Did you see what happened?"

"See what happened?" asked Darrell. Gwendoline's story came back to her. Had Leoni seen everything as well? Was it true then? "What's been going on?"

"Come to my dormy and I'll tell you," said Leoni, continuing up the corridor. "I'm freezing and I don't want my cold to get any worse." She was tired and hadn't been pleased to meet Darrell. Now she had to explain everything!

Darrell returned to her bed only to grab her dressing gown and bed cover before scurrying down the corridor to Leoni's dormy, only a few paces away. Really, the strange things that happened in school. There never seemed to be a dull moment, even at night!

**_To be continued..._**

**_Hope you are enjoying it so far. Please review!_**


	13. Chapter 13

_**Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't updated for ages. I know it's been like forever. I've had writers block!! No! But I'm sort of back on track now, and sort of know where I'm going...**_

_**Btw: Have nothing against anyone with diabetes. And I know I'm being awfully cruel to Melanie and May at the moment, but it'll get better for 'em later in the story...**_

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers! _Chapter thirteen_  
**

"Sally! Sally wake up!" Sally mumbled something incoherent to herself as she sat up, finding an excited Darrell before her. "You'll never guess what happened last night!"

"What?" asked Sally, sensing the excitement. All the others in the dormy were now wide awake, and all eager to hear what Darrell had to say, with the exception of Gwendoline, who was busy plotting how to explain herself into the story. She felt rather pleased with herself, and felt she had been an important witness. Melanie was not present. Her bed was unmade and her dressing gown missing.

"Well," began Darrell, before being suddenly interrupted by Gwendoline.

"Let _me_ tell the story Darrell," she said, looking round at everyone with her big blue eyes, and imagining herself to look very important. "I did after all _see_ the actual event, unlike you."

"You didn't see all of it!" replied Darrell, feeling disappointed. She had been so looking forward to sharing the news with the others. "Leoni saw everything, and she told it all to me. You only saw the ambulance."

"Just stop arguing and tell the story!" insisted Moira. She was impatient and rather irritated that she had not been up to share in the 'exciting happenings'.

Gwen swished back her golden hair and pursed up her lips, feeling victorious. "Well," she started, enjoying the attention she was receiving. "I was sleeping in bed when sudden sounds woke me up. I heard all this screaming and shouting from downstairs."

"You didn't say any of that when you spoke to me last night!" cried Darrell, her face red. Gwen didn't give her a chance to say anymore.

"I was very concerned about the sounds I heard," she continued, "So I grabbed my gown and hurried downstairs, in case someone was injured and needed help." She picked up a nail file and began scrubbing her nails, looking half-bored as if it were a perfectly normal thing to go wandering around at night looking for mysteriously injured people.

"However, Matron reached the person before me. I heard her speaking from around the corner. I didn't want to appear a bother, and as Matron is a very capable person I decided to go back to bed and let her take care of it."

Gwendoline replaced the nail file and admired her polished nails, turning them this way and that. "When I reached the dormy, I heard to sound of an ambulance. I went to the window and saw someone being loaded onto it, because it had driven right up to the front door."

"The front door?" asked Mary-Lou.

"Yes," assured Gwendoline. "Miss Grayling left with it, and a whole crowd of teachers were there to wave the person off. I didn't see who it was, but I heard Matron say 'What a thing to happen!' before heading back inside. Then I woke Darrell."

"That's a lie!" Darrell's face was flushed, and she could feel her cheeks burning. "You've made most of that up!"

"I did not!" retorted Gwendoline. A few girls sniggered.

"Sounds like an awful lot of fuss Gwendoline," said Alicia. "I mean, if a whole troop of teachers went to wave of an ambulance at the main door I should have thought more of us would hear it."

"You were all sleeping soundly," said Gwendoline. "You ate like total pigs, all of you! It's no wonder you didn't hear a thing."

"Did I hear the word 'pig' Gwendoline?" asked Irene. "Hmm...now let me see. You ate at least three bread rolls, about five whole tomatoes, practically half the jar of jam..."

"Oh be quiet!" Gwendoline threw a towel at the laughing Irene and stormed out of the dormy, fuming. Everyone turned to Darrell. "Tell us what really happened!" said Moira.

"Leoni went to get a drink of water, and she saw Miss Potts taking Melanie to Matron's room!"

"Matron's room? That's why she isn't here now," observed Belinda. Darrell nodded.

"Was she ill?" asked Catherine.

"No, it was her sister."

"May?! Whatever happened to her?" exclaimed Sally.

"Well, I never knew this before, but May has diabetes!"

"Diabetes?" Everyone at once felt a stab of pity for May, the outgoing, bossy little May.

"Yes. Apparently, she's had it all life. Poor thing had a sort of diabetic emergency last night. She wasn't feeling well at dinner, had a cold or something, so she didn't feel like eating. But she didn't get enough sugar..."

"And found herself in trouble in the middle of the night," finished Irene. "Gosh! Then an ambulance came to take her to hospital!"

"Yes, and Gwendoline saw it. That's the only part of the story she really knew."

"How did Leoni hear all this?" asked Alicia.

"She was hiding outside Matron's room, because of course she wanted to know what was going on, but didn't want to show herself for fear she'd get caught and into trouble. After the ambulance left Miss Grayling spoke to Matron, and Leoni was able to creep closer to the door. That's when she heard the news."

"Poor May. And poor Melanie," sympathised Mary-Lou. "When will May be able to return?"

"I'm not sure," said Darrell. "But that's not all!"

"Golly! You mean there's more?" asked Belinda.

"Yes." Darrell's face suddenly turned sober. "Miss Grayling said, 'I'll have to ring the head mistress.'"

"Head mistress? _She's_ the head mistress!" declared Moira.

"I know. This is the sad part."

"Sad part?" Mary-Lou looked alarmed.

"Yes. Tell me, have any of you ever heard Melanie mention her parents?"

Everyone had to admit they had not. Neither had her parents ever sent her letters or come at half-term. They had always assumed that her parents were busy, hard-working people who had little time for her.

"Miss Grayling had to ring St Margaret's orphanage," said Darrell solemnly. "Because Melanie and May are orphans!"

_**To be continued... Please review!!**_


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories.**

**_Another chapter! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, especially Nonnimus and Lady Eleanor Boleyn, and Potato Spud (aka Dolphin-99). Also, thankyou to to lady eleanor Boleyn for suggesting I put in some bits about Felicity. The first formers will star a little more in the next chapter!_**

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers! _Chapter fourteen_**

Now while Darrell had been talking, Gwendoline had been hanging around outside the dormy, listening. She had felt too embarrassed to return after storming out, but was curious to know the full story of the eventful night. So, she had crouched outside the closed door with her ear pressed against the wood, listening.

Just after everyone heard the startling news that Melanie and May were orphans, Gwendoline was interrupted by footsteps coming down the corridor. She hurriedly straightened and adjusted her dressing gown, pretending that she was just about to enter the room so that no mistress would inquire as to what she was doing. She needn't have worried, for it was no mistress who came by, but Melanie herself.

Gwendoline at once started forming a plan in her mind. The others were sure to be annoyed with her at the moment, but perhaps she could settle their irritancy by being extra nice to Melanie. After all, the poor orphan must surely need a good friend! Perhaps even the mistresses would notice her generous display and give her a kinder mark on her sure-to-be-poor end of term report.

Melanie stopped short when Gwendoline stepped in front of her. Behind her bulky glasses her eyes were red rimmed, showing that she had been crying. Gwendoline's lips stretched into a smile. "Good morning Melanie! Can I just say how dreadfully _sorry_ I am that such a thing should happen to your sister! And you must be especially close since you have no parents, oh you _poor_ thing!"

Melanie froze, her face a mirror of horror. "Ho-ho-how d-d-did you know-know-know tha-a-at Gwe-gwe-gwendoline?"

"Know what?" Gwen put on her 'innocent' face, although she was quite sure she knew what Melanie meant. Her cunning mind was already coming up with another scheme.

"A-a-bou-bout m-m-my pa-pa-pare-rents." Melanie looked quite startled. She had obviously tried to keep the fact that she was an orphan a secret from everyone else.

"Oh, Darrell told the whole form this morning," said sneaky Gwen airily. She thought of all the times Darrell had insulted or hurt her, and thought it would be a very good way to get back at her by having Melanie feel sore towards her when Darrell would be sure to be extra-nice. "She found it very amusing. Don't worry. I'm not a blabber mouth. I shan't repeat it to _anyone_. But I'm not sure what you should say to Darrell. She'll tell everyone what she thinks is a juicy bit of gossip!"

Melanie bit her lip, which had begun to tremble. She looked about to say something else, but stopped and continued into the dormy. Gwen hurried after her.

"Here! Let me help you with your bed," she said. "You're probably feeling very worried at the moment but don't worry, I'll help you around with things until you calm down a bit!"

The whole room had fallen silent, and every single girl was gaping at Gwen's sudden show of kindness, and the way she fussed around Melanie like a mother hen. Alicia soon guessed her intentions. "I think Gwen wants to be seen as a dear little helper. What a sweet thing to do, Gwen!" Everyone sniggered silently to themselves, and continued with their usual morning routines. They had all promised not to tell another single soul about Melanie and May's secret, and although they wanted to be kind to Melanie, none of them wanted to embarrass or offend her by offering a big rush of kindness all at once. Many of them regretted their previous impatience and intolerance towards her, and quite a few of the girls were thinking up ways of how they could make it up to her. Darrell planned on making Leoni agree to secrecy as soon as she saw her at breakfast.

Melanie seemed more flustered and stuttery than ever that morning. Gwendoline continued with her sickly sweet display, but even Melanie began to find her annoying. "I do-do-don't ne-ne-need help wi-with m-m-my ha-hair Gwendoline!" she protested feebly as the girl swept up a hairbrush and began arranging her curls into a complicated bundle.

"Oh, but it's the latest style!" insisted Gwendoline. "And if you don't do it soon, we'll be late for breakfast."

So weak, insignificant Melanie was left to Gwendoline's wrath. A few of the other girls tried to save her, but Gwendoline could be very stubborn and witty when she wanted to, and secretly enjoyed feeling powerful over her lowly charge. Nothing the girls said or did could stop her acting the way she did.

During first class that morning, Matron came bustling up to the door. "Can I speak to Melanie please?" she asked. Everyone watched as Melanie scrambled to her feet and practically _ran_ towards the door. The whole form knew about the incident with May, but only about half of the North Tower girls knew her family secret.

Melanie returned sniffling to herself, and at break Darrell and Sally went to comfort her. She told them that Miss Potts had agreed to take her to the hospital later that morning to visit May, but had been called to an urgent meeting and had had to cancel the outing. No other teacher was available and Melanie would have to wait a whole week to see her sister.

"Couldn't you catch a bus during our free hour?" suggested Darrell. Melanie shook her head. "Not without someone else, the hospital is much further than the usual stores we visit."

Darrell and Sally were just about to offer to take her when Gwendoline butted in. "_I'll_ take you Melanie, don't worry!" She had a maths test that afternoon for which she was far from prepared, and hoped that the visit would stretch into class time and she would miss it.

"We were just about to go with Melanie!" protested Darrell, determined not to let Melanie be bustled off with the sneaky Gwen.

"Oh, it's ok Darrell. I know you and Sally planned on getting in some much needed lacrosse practice." Gwen smiled to herself. "After all, the match _is_ next week. And as I have nothing to do this afternoon I would be more than happy to go with Melanie!"

Mam'zelle Dupont happened to be walking past, and heard Gwen. She misunderstood Gwen's intentions for ones of kindness and offered unknowing aid to the shifty girl.

"Ah Gwen, you are such a kind girl, are you not?" Gwen beamed as Mam'zelle continued, "Of course you shall go with little Melanie to the hospital. You are so generous to give up your time! I shall go now myself at tell Miss Potts that you will catch the afternoon bus. What kind people you English girls are!" And with that, she bustled off. Gwen gave Darrell and Sally a triumphant look before sidling off, telling Melanie to follow. The girl reluctantly followed her back into the buildings.

"What a sneak!" exclaimed Sally. "It's obvious she's just putting on a show for her own benefit. She doesn't care a thing about Melanie! Or feel in the least bit sorry for her!"

At that moment, Felicity came up. "We're going to go ahead with the trick!" she told Darrell. "You know, the one with the remote control frog."

"How exciting!" Darrell's eyes glowed, forgetting Melanie for a moment. "Have you told the entire first form?"

"Oh yes, everyone knows. And we're all ready. May won't be there of course. It's such a pity what happened to her!" Darrell didn't tell her sister that May was an orphan, but listened eagerly to the plans.

"We're going to perform it in prep this evening," continued Felicity. "Mam'zelle Dupont is taking us tonight, and she's set some nasty verb work! But I reckon we won't do a single bit of it!"

"You'll have to catch up later though," advised Sally.

"I know, but we'll have such fun! And remember, it's part of an experiment. We still want to find out who told on us before, and tonight will narrow it down by half. Is it the first form, or is it the fifth form?"

Felicity scampered off, and Darrell and Sally headed back to class as the bell rang. "Honestly, the things these first formers come up with," remarked Darrell. "Anyone would think they were the next Sherlock Holmes, trying to solve the mystery of the class sneak!"

**_To be continued..._**

**_Please review! Sorry the chapter ended a little abruptly, but I usually aim for about 1200 words. Next chapter: the results of the trick!!!!!_**

**_And to all kind reviewers: If you have a little bit of spare time, would you be so kind as to take a moment to read my sister's story, the twins at Malory towers? It's her first fic and she really wants some reviews! Only if you're not too busy though. And she won't get angry if you're critical. But please don't feel obliged._**

**_Thanks!_**

**_:)_**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories, and even if I use some of her trademark phrases and words, it's cause my story is trying to be like hers. I don't intend to plagarise or anything.  
**

**_Thanks to everyone who reviewed! And also special thanks to Lady Eleanor and Nonnimus for reviewing Dolphin-99's story. She was so happy! Oh, and thanks Nonnimus for mentioning Mary-Lou cause I've got a great idea from that. _**

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers: _Chapter fifteen_  
**

The form room was completely silent during the fifth form's algebra test that afternoon. Everyone worked silently, many of the girls struggling with the hard equations Miss James had set. Leoni sat quietly at her desk, already finished, doodling absent-mindedly on a piece of scrap paper.

Her mind flew back to all she had heard the night before, but she shrugged away the thoughts. She didn't care a bit about Melanie's affairs. Darrell had asked her to keep silent about the orphan issue, and Leoni had agreed, not because she cared about Melanie's reputation or feelings, but because she knew if she told anyone, she would have to repeat the whole story of her night escapade, and that would really be quite boring!

The door suddenly opened, breaking the loud silence. Gwen and Melanie were ushered in by Miss Parker, the second form mistress. The two girls sat down at their desks while the mistresses exchanged a few quick words, and then Miss Parker left. Miss James picked a spare test paper from her desk and gave it to Gwendoline. "You have 40 minutes," she said. "You came late so you shall have to miss some tea time. You can eat during prep and catch up on the missed work later."

Gwendoline scowled, all hope of missing the test fading away. Melanie wasn't given a paper, but instead asked to work on a simple composition they had been set that morning.

The bell rang a few minutes later, and the class filed out of the room silently, leaving Gwendoline behind as Miss James collected the papers. The girl sighed loudly and tapped her pencil on the wood, the questions blurring before her eyes. She struggled through the paper but was easily distracted, glancing up at every noise and pricking up her ears at the sound of students walking or chatting outside.

A knock came at the door, and Miss Grayling entered the room. She barely looked at Gwen before speaking softly to Miss James. They began discussing deadlines for reports, quietly so that Gwendoline wouldn't be disturbed. Miss James searched her desk for some notes she wanted to give the head mistress, only to conclude that she had left them in her office. She offered to go at get them before tea, and both teachers left the classroom, Miss James telling Gwen she would return shortly.

Alone in the classroom, Gwen stood up, fed up with her work. She was hungry- the drive to the hospital had cut into her lunch time as well as class, and she wanted her tea, her mouth watering at the thought of the fresh scones Cook had been baking that day. She strode over to her desk and flung her test paper onto it, intending to leave.

She was just about to head for the door when she caught sight of a pile of test papers out of the corner of her eye. The fifth form's exams were stacked neatly, bundled up in string, ready to be marked. A thought crept into Gwendoline's mind, and she smiled.

Glancing out the door to make sure no one was there, she fumbled with the string and pulled it off, sorting hastily through the papers. She selected one and grabbed a pencil from Miss James' case. Furiously she began scribbling over it.

Footsteps began echoing up the hallway. Quickly, Gwendoline slipped the ruined paper back into the pile and flung her own on top. She was just tying up the string as Miss James entered the classroom.

"Gwendoline! What are you doing? You still have ten minutes!" Miss James hurried over to the desk.

"I know Miss James, but I was finished and thought I'd hand up my paper."

The teacher snatched up Gwen's paper and scanned over it, looking for signs of copy or cheating. A quick look showed her that Gwen had not cheated at all- her work was terrible, rushed and mostly incorrect.

"Are you sure you don't want to check over your work?" she asked, thinking how ashamed Gwen's parents would be if they knew how little she tried.

"Oh, quite sure. I studied so hard for this test!" Gwen gave a smug smile. She didn't care about her work in the least.

"Oh really," murmured Miss James dubiously. "Well, if you're absolutely sure you don't want to check, you may go."

Gwen gave an elated smile and sailed out the classroom happily. She ran into Melanie in the corridor.

"Oh, hi Melanie! What's wrong? You look like you've been crying."

"Gwen! So-so-someon-one's to-told tha-that I'm an-an or-orpha-a-an!" sniffed Melanie, looking extremely downcast. "So-ome thir-third for-formers ca-came up to-o m-me in the ha-all-wa-way to say ho-how so-sorr-y they were."

"It must have been Darrell!" Gwen's venomous little mouth hissed, knowing perfectly well that it was she who had spread the news to the third form that morning. "I told you you couldn't trust her. Now look what she's done."

"It-it ca-can't ha-have be-be-been Darrell," protested Melanie feebly. "Sh-she wa-wa-waas so-so nice to m-me to-today."

"Did I ever tell you about the time she slapped me in the pool?"Gwen launched into old, forgotten stories of the mild fights she had had in the first form, all of which made Darrell seem an awful monster. "Or about the time she pushed over Sally when she was dreadfully ill? She nearly died! She's really a hideous pig, always teasing others and putting them down."

Melanie looked very confused. Darrell had indeed been very nice to her that morning, and she couldn't imagine that the same girl was as bad as Gwen said she was. Although extremely slow and rather woolly in the brain, Melanie was sharp enough to sense Gwen's spite, and she began to doubt the girl's friendship. Her weak, easily led nature however gave her no strength against Gwen's sharp, untruthful tongue.

* * *

"How do you think you went in the test Irene?" asked Darrell as she lounged in the common room that evening, half-reading. "I'm sure you'll get full marks though. You're brilliant at maths!"

"So am I!" Leoni barged rudely into the conversation. "It was easy as pie. I can't believe how much you all struggled over it. I could have done that in the first form!"

"Do be quite Leoni," snapped Moira, who was trying to study geometry, knowing that her weak point in maths was likely to give her a poor mark. "We may not be as bright as you, but at least we have the decency not to boast and put down others."

Leoni sat back in a huff, pouting. She decided not to take any notice of Moira. "I can't believe Melanie didn't do the test though. I know as well as you all do that she would have failed, but at least she could have tried!"

"She barely slept last night," pointed out Mary-Lou. "And with all the stress about her sister, you surely can't expect her to be up to as hard a test as that one was. She'll probably do it later on."

"I've a good mind to give you a punishment from my punishment book Leoni!" said Moira. "You're quite an irritation!"

"Do what you want. I'll just give you one back." Leoni never lost any opportunity to give out a punishment slip, as fifth and sixth formers were allowed to. She found her book and flipped to a fresh page, chewing her pencil thoughtfully. "Let see...how about 100 lines of Shakespere for being a domineering bossy-boots, a long French poem for rejecting my freedom of speech, a page of French verbs for ruining our common rooms image by sitting there with a face as red as a tomato..."

Moira nearly fumed. She knew Leoni would never dare give Moira any punishment, but she was thoroughly annoying. The door opened, and Felicity ran in, breathless and with red eyes.

"Darrell! The trick failed! We never even got to prep when Mam'zelle called us all to her office. She was terribly angry, and knew all about it. Someone told her this morning. Worse still, she thought we were planning on putting live frogs in her desk as well as put sneezing powder in her books and a few bad-taste tablets in her water. She wouldn't believe us when we denied those fake tricks. We've all got afternoon detention for the next week. We can't go out to the shops, or go for a run outside...we have to sit and write lines. Miss Potts heard about it and gave us an order mark, and she was awfully ashamed of us. I just can't believe someone in our form could be such an awful liar!"

_**To be continued...**_

_**Please review!!  
**_


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories.**

**_Well, here's another chapter!_**

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers! _Chapter sixteen_**

Darrell stared at Felicity in horror. To think that there could be such a horrible sneak! At Malory Towers, so well-known for it's polite, well brought-up students! She felt almost ashamed for the school.

"What's all this about a trick Felicity?" asked Alicia. Darrell remembered that the fifth form had not been told, and quickly explained about the experiment. "Of course, we know now that it's someone in the first form," she added, "Because only they knew."

"Oh Darrell, what will we do?" Felicity wiped her tear-stricken face with her sleeve. Darrell gave her a comforting hug.

"I'll go and speak to Mam'zelle," she offered. "I'll tell her you only planned one trick, not three, so perhaps she'll be more lenient with the punishment. She may even tell me who told her about it."

Darrell took a deep breath and ran to the French teacher's office, planning what to say in her head. Mam'zelle Dupont shared an office with Miss Potts, and Darrell hoped fervently that the North Tower mistress would not be there. One angry teacher would be enough to deal with, not two!

Nervously, Darrell tapped lightly on the door. There was shuffling inside, but no response. Darrell knocked again, harder. A stern, accented voice from inside called, "Come in!"

Darrell tentatively opened the door and peered in. The chubby Mam'zelle Dupont was sitting at her desk, furiously marking papers. She had her back to the door, and barely looked up as Darrell entered the room. She was usually in a good mood, and often laughed off the girls tricks. But catching the students unaware had displeased her, especially since they had apparently planned more than one to make her day terrible. She was definitely in a BAD mood at that moment.

"Darrell, what is it?" she snapped. Darrell was a good student and Mam'zelle was usually very nice to her, but not today.

"Mam'zelle, Felicity told me about the...the trick."

"Are you also plotting against me? You bad girl!" exclaimed Mam'zelle.

"Oh no Mam'zelle, the fifth form is not playing any tricks on you!" That was true. "It's just that I would like to know who told you about it."

"They asked me to keep it private, and stop lying, I know the whole fifth form was involved!"

"But Mam'zelle, apart from me and Sally, no one else in the fifth form knew!" Darrell felt stunned. "And the first form only planned one trick, not three. That person lied."

Mam'zelle burst out, "Darrell! You bad girl! The fifth form was plotting on tricking me as well! I know so, so do not try to hide it from me. You will receive your just punishment soon."

Darrell bit her lip, her heart racing. What was Mam'zelle going on about?

"Get out of my office please Darrell," growled Mam'zelle, looking like a ferocious dog as she barred her teeth in a scowl. "And do not come back to pester me about the person who told me. I must respect their privacy. And mind the fifth form do not try any more tricks or your punishment will be worse! You will hear from Miss Grayling tomorrow."

Darrell opened her mouth but Mam'zelle shooed her out and slammed the door behind her. Matron, who was walking past, looked at the red-faced Darrell in surprise.

"In trouble with Mam'zelle? I've never seen her so angry." She peered curiously at Darrell over a tall pile of crisply washed white towels.

"Oh, she's just bothered about something." Darrell tried to smile, but as soon as Matron was out of sight, she frowned, thinking hard. She had to find Miss Potts! Mam'zelle was acting crazy, insisting that the fifth form was tricking her as well, when they had honestly done nothing. _She's probably so angry_, Darrell thought, _that she's not thinking straight. Maybe if I tell Miss Potts the whole story, she can have a word with Mam'zelle. At least she'll listen to me!_

Darrell set off in search for the teacher, even popping in a few offices to ask other mistresses if they had seen her. But Miss Potts was nowhere to be found. Her meeting that day had stretched overtime and she was having supper in town with some friends. She would not be returning to school until the next day.

Tired, Darrell returned to the dormy. There were only about 15 minutes until bed, and she felt stressed. Felicity was nowhere to be seen- the first formers were by now probably sleeping, if they could still manage to sleep after such an unfair punishment and scolding.

"Well, how did it go?" demanded Alicia. Darrell told them everything. The fifth formers were rather startled to hear that they were being blamed for planning to trick Mam'zelle.

"But we didn't even know about the trick until tonight!" protested Belinda. She was so absent-minded and dippy she got into enough trouble everyday without the extra burden of an alleged 'trick' plan.

"I know. Try tell Mam'zelle that," mumbled Darrell.

"You know what, I think I'll do that!" Alicia stood up, determined.

"No! Don't do that! She's in a horrible enough temper already! Just leave her."

Gwen was sitting in a corner, silent. She often refrained from joining in the conversations because she was so often snubbed or made fun of, but she listened to everything they said, and this time she couldn't resist putting in a word or two. "Well, why don't you just accept the punishment and make no more fuss of it?" she suggested.

"What?!" Darrell looked at her as if she'd gone mad. It occurred to her that Gwen may have tipped them off, but no. Gwen didn't know any more about it than anyone, and with her reputation no one would ever tell her. "You'll be punished as well!"

"Oh, Daddy would never let me get punished if I were innocent." Gwen tossed her hair over her shoulders, which she had let loose, making sure first that Matron or some other teacher was nowhere near to see it. "He'd ring Miss Grayling and make an awful fuss. I'm sure the school doesn't want such legal issues."

Alicia looked at Gwen in disgust. "Legal issues? Gwen dear, riches can't buy everything for you, and I'd like to see you try and persuade Mam'zelle of your innocence. After all, you're probably the most likely candidate for sneak!"

Everyone gasped at Alicia's blunt accusation. Many of them had secretly suspected Gwen, but, like Darrell, knew it was impossible for her to find out about the trick, if they themselves hadn't known. Gwen flared up.

"How horrid you are Alicia! You didn't tell me about the trick, you nasties! You always leave me out. And even if you had told me, I wouldn't have been a sneak! I would have enjoyed a good laugh, like the rest of you. And now you come practically accusing me of something I didn't do. Oh, you are horrid!" And with that she threw her book at Alicia, jumped up and stormed out of the room.

"Now look what you've done," reprimanded Moira. "Gwen will sulk for days now."

Alicia shrugged. "That's not new. She sulks nearly every day."

Melanie had watched the whole scene, looking terrified, not daring to say a thing. Sally saw a chance for her to talk to Melanie without Gwen's interfering.

"So Melanie, how was your trip to the hospital?"

Melanie looked nervous but pleased to be spoken to, and opened her mouth to reply.

No such luck.

"Melanie?" Gwen's head poked around the door, her cheeks flushed from her temper. "Come with me. I have to tell you something!"

"We were talking to Melanie," retorted Sally coolly. "I'm sure she wants to talk to us for a change."

"I'm ignoring you all," said Gwen, sailing into the room and picking up Melanie's things. "Except Melanie, the only one who's nice to me. Come on!" And with that she grabbed the poor child's arm and practically dragged her out of the room, faster than anyone could say anything.

"Well, I do feel sorry for Melanie!" exclaimed Darrell.

"I can't believe Gwen has put up with her for so long," said Irene. "And she used to get so annoyed with her stutter. I wonder what she wants to tell her."

"Don't worry." Alicia grinned. "Gwen can't keep secrets from us for long. We'll soon find out!"

**_To be continued..._**

**_Please review!!!!! Thanks for reading this far. I will update soon._**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories.**

**_Hmm... more on Gwen. About Melanie, all will be explained........_**

**_BTW: I'm aiming for about 25 chapters, so it's nearing the climax. Hint: lacrosse game!!!!!_**

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers! _Chapter seventeen_**

Miss Grayling put down her reading glasses and leant back in her chair, surveying Darrell and Sally. Miss Potts had had to attend to business in town, so they had decided to go and talk to Miss Grayling about Mam'zelle the next morning.

"So you are telling me that someone in the first form lied?"

"Yes," Darrell nodded. "Only the first form knew, except for Sally and me."

Miss Grayling shook her head thoughtfully. "I do not understand why you constantly bombard poor Mam'zelle with your tricks. Do you all want to fail your exams if you don't work?"

"This was more of an experiment," pointed out Sally.

Miss Grayling sighed. "Yes, but I do not think playing another trick was the best way to go. You only ended up giving the sneak a chance to further indulge in their bad behaviour, instead of finding a way to correct their problem."

Both Darrell and Sally blushed. Miss Grayling continued, "I have already talked to you this term Darrell about playing tricks. I am sorry that you have participated in it once again by encouraging it."

Darrell blushed even more, but to her surprise, Miss Grayling smiled. "However, since this was more of an...investigation, and you meant well, I will let it rest for now."

Darrell sighed in relief. "We still don't know who it was. The worst bit is that they made up all those horrid stories about us, things we didn't even _think_ of doing!"

"Yes, it is very sad that someone like that is at Malory Towers," agreed Miss Grayling. "Well, I shall have a little chat with Mam'zelle, and persuade her that the fifth form is innocent!" There was a slight twinkle in her eyes. "Do not believe though that the first form will go unpunished. They should know better than to do such silly things, but they shall only be punished fairly, not for the things they didn't do."

Darrell and Sally needed to go to class, and so they thanked Miss Grayling and left the office. On the way to the classroom, they discussed who could have been the culprit.

"I can't think of _anyone_ in the first form who would do such a thing," said Darrell. "They're all rowdy and have a good sense of humour. I would have thought all of them would want a good trick."

"I agree," said Sally. "But whoever it is, I don't think they'll be able to hide it much longer. Miss Grayling will probe around and find out who it is."

"I wonder where Miss Potts got to," mused Darrell, changing the subject. "Felicity said she's been gone all morning, and it's been getting quite hard to find her lately. I wonder what she's up to!"

Sally shrugged. "I heard some teachers talking about long service leave. Perhaps she's thinking of a holiday, after working so hard for so many terms."

"Hmm...maybe that's why the sneak has been acting up, because they know Miss Potts is too distracted to take as much notice as they usually would."

"Do you think they're the same person who's been playing tricks on us?" asked Sally. "You know, ruining Leoni's picture, and writing on the back of the wardrobe."

"I almost forgot about that!" Darrell thought back to the incidents. "It could be connected I suppose, because this person seems quite spiteful towards the fifth form as well as the first!"

They were suddenly met in the hall by Leoni. "I thought you two may like to know you're playing in the game next week," she said. Darrell stopped still. "The lacrosse game?" she asked.

"Of course! What else?" said Leoni rudely. "There's you two, and me. The rest are sixth formers. You'd better practice to get good enough to stand your own against the other school."

"We're sure to win with you on the team," said Sally graciously.

"Of course!" Leoni gave a smug smile. "I'm not worried about losing. I only thought you may want to practice a bit so you don't look so embarrassing compared to me."

She flounced off. Darrell frowned. "I'm awfully glad about being in the team," she said. "but somehow Leoni ruins it all. She makes it seem as if it's a privilege to play with her, and we'll hardly get the ball- she'll always have it."

"Well, we were chosen out of the whole fifth form," said Sally. "At least we know we've been noticed. Even if we don't get much playing chance on the day, at least we know we've worked hard and deserve the recognition."

Nevertheless, Sally and Darrell raced off in their spare time later that afternoon to practice throwing and catching, determined to show Leoni that they weren't _that_ bad. Afterwards, they returned to the common room, breathless but happy, only to find themselves walk into the middle of a fight.

"What do you mean, you went off without me?" asked Melanie. Darrell stared at her in utter surprise. No stutter!

"I was just being kind. May's coming back tomorrow anyway," shrugged Gwendoline, glaring at her 'friend', not noticing the silent spectators.

"But you know I asked you to wait for me so we could both go this afternoon!" Melanie seemed more confident without her stutter, which had mysteriously disappeared, but she still glanced around nervously. There were only a few other girls in the common room, but they slipped out, not wanting to get involved. Darrell and Sally decided to go, and planned on asking Melanie about her stutter later. Gwendoline could be rather foul when in a bad temper.

"Well, I thought why not save you the bother of going all the way to the hospital. You already had to go to the doctor!"

"Bother? BOTHER? She's my _sister_!" Melanie took a deep breath, her hands trembling. "How could you do that Gwendoline? You knew how much I wanted to see her today, to see how she was going. She's only allowed one visitor a day, so you know I can't go now." The words flew out of her mouth at top speed, as if she were having trouble controlling them.

"Well I..."

Tears burst into Melanie's eyes and she hurried off, leaving a red-faced Gwendoline behind. A few second formers outside peeped in, but scuttled off when Gwen glared at them. She sat for a while by herself, in a huff, but her mind continued scheming. A small smile stretched across her lips, and she quickly stood up and ran off. Really, what was Gwen up to now?

**_To be continued..._**

**_Please review!_**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories.**

**_Hi! Here's another chapter. I've figured it out and after this one, six more to go. The next few will be hopefully very eventful and fast-moving. Hint hint Lacrosse game!!_**

**_Oh, about the stutter machine: I acknowledge the TV show I saw AGES ago which had that on it, can't remember the name or channel._**

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers! _Chapter eighteen _  
**

Darrell and Sally lost no time in hunting out Melanie later that day. They found her sitting in the library, sniffling to herself and hiding behind a book. They decided not to mention the fight with Gwen which had obviously made her quite upset.

"Hi Melanie!" greeted Darrell, sitting down on the seat next to her.

"Oh, hello Darrell." Melanie gave a watery smile and wiped her eyes.

"We were just wondering what happened to your stutter," said Sally. "You sound great without it!"

"Thanks." Melanie looked truly happy for once, as if she had never received a compliment in her entire life. She brushed aside some brown curls to reveal a small, tan coloured implement embedded in her right ear. "It's this."

"What is it?" inquired Darrell. "A hearing aid?"

"Not really. It plays out the words to my brain. I don't know why, but stutters like mine disappear if you speak at the same time as someone else, in this case the machine."

"That's amazing!" Sally looked impressed. "So your stutter's gone forever?"

Melanie shrugged. "It may come back in time. I'm sort of a guinea pig for the experiment for this machine. It's newly invented."

"Well, it works really well." Darrell suddenly remembered the events at half-term, when she had accused Melanie of lying about her stutter in order to get attention. "How come you could read aloud at half-term without a stutter, before you got this device?"

"I had the story recorded." Melanie drew a small, battered cassette player out of her pocket. "My machine wasn't ready yet, and I was told to practice a while to get used to speaking normally."

"I'm awfully sorry I accused you that day." Darrell rubbed her nose. She felt horribly guilty. "I had no proof and I lost my temper. It was terribly unfair for you. Worse still, I went and told everyone else."

"That's OK." Melanie looked uneasy. "I know how frustrating it is to have to listen to endless stuttering." She glanced at the clock and stood up quickly. "I, er, have to go now to see Matron." She hurried off. Sally looked at Darrell in bewilderment.

"Melanie still puzzles me," she said as the two friends left the library. "The whole time you talked to her she kept looking around, as if searching for the opportunity to escape."

"She's a very strange character," agreed Darrell. "But I guess she's had a hard life, spending so much time in the orphanage."

"I wonder what happened to her parents," mused Sally.

"I'd like to know that too." Darrell sighed. "But we certainly have no business to ask." They found themselves back in the common room, full of girls reading or studying during the half hour before supper, with some playing games and a few listening to a softly playing radio.

"Hey Darrell, Sally, want to continue that game of monopoly we started yesterday?" Irene waved the game board madly in the air, barely missing Mavis' head. "I've got that plan you made of all our moves, so we can continue from where we were."

"OK!" Darrell sat down happily at the table and began helping Belinda deal out the paper money. Sally arranged the pieces, and then noticed Leoni slumped on a chair, alone and looking thoroughly bored.

"Leoni? Want to play?" she offered kindly. None of them really liked Leoni, but she didn't like seeing the girl spend so much time alone. Leoni looked up and studied the game, and for a brief second interest passed over her eyes. She quickly shook her head. "No thanks. I'm busy."

"You're not doing anything really at the moment," pointed out Irene.

"I'm going to study," Leoni responded, picking up a maths book.

"You don't need to study. You always boast about how you never need to revise," said Belinda.

"You go ahead and play," Leoni said, flicking quickly through the book to a random page and reading intently. "Don't mind me."

The four girls stared at her in surprise. Leoni telling them to ignore her? Was this really the same girl who was always throwing herself into the center of attention?

"If you don't like monopoly, we could always play scrabble," suggested Darrell. "Or perhaps snakes and ladders?"

"No thanks, just leave me alone," insisted Leoni. "I don't care about any of your silly games."

Rather hurt, Darrell turned back to monopoly, and the next few minutes passed quietly. Suddenly, Sally noticed Leoni watching the process of the game very carefully. While pretending to study, she kept glancing up at every move, watching as the girls exchanged money, bought and sold 'plastic' houses, delved into the little bank of paper money. She appeared to take note of the rules, concentrating very hard on what was going on.

"Are you sure you don't want to play?" asked Sally, thinking the girl may have changed her mind.

"No!" Leoni immediately turned back down to her book.

"Don't bother with her," said Darrell, rolling the die. "She obviously thinks playing simple games with us is above her."

"I think she doesn't know how to play," whispered Sally. Darrell's eyes opened wide in amazement. "What? Who doesn't know how to play monopoly?"

Sally shrugged. "I think she's ashamed of it and doesn't want to admit it. Perhaps we can help her a little. She looks so miserable." She rolled the die. "Oh look!" she said loudly. "Seven! Oh nooo! Belinda, I landed on your Mayfair! Now I have to pay your silly rent." She made a great show of ruffling through her money before pulling out a $500 note. "Change please."

Out of the corner of her eye, Sally watched Leoni watch curiously. She tossed the die to Irene. "Your turn Irene."

Guessing Sally's plan, Irene did a very silly throw, making the die topple onto the floor and land near Leoni. "Oh, pass the dice back please Leoni," she said. "What number did I get?"

"You got eleven," said Leoni, picking up the die and throwing them back. Irene stared at the board in front of her, rolling her eyes in an exaggerated manner. "Hmm...should I buy this property?"

"Don't!" wailed Belinda. "I need to collect that whole strip so I can charge super high rent for my hotels!"

"In that case, I'll buy it!" Irene sorted through her notes. "I don't have enough!"

"Use your 500," suggested Darrell.

"All right. How much change do I get?"

"Leoni, how much change should she get?" asked Belinda, pretending the sum was too much for her. Leoni opened her mouth to answer, but suddenly her eyes went wide and she turned red. Her hands clenched into fists.

"You...you hateful girls!" she spluttered, before spinning round and storming out of the room!

**_To be continued..._**

**_Please review!!_**

**_Oh, and thanks to everyone who so kindly reviews! No pressure to review of course, but I get so happy! Thank you!  
_**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories.**

**_Tee hee hee another chapter!!!! _**

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers! _Chapter nineteen_  
**

"I don't believe this!" Darrell stared at the maths paper in front of her, astounded. "How could I get a 'D' in maths? After studying so hard?"

"Let me see." Sally calmly took the paper and flicked it open, frowning at the answers Darrell had written. "This is strange. I know that you know how to do these problems. You even explained some to me after the exams!"

Darrell peered over at the first page, squinting to read the answer she had put.

"Look! There's my true answer." She pointed to a faint grey smudge. "Can you read it? It says: 3 x plus 4 y squared. And look, the answer says 7 b, and I know I didn't put that! Someone's rubbed out my answers and put different ones in, so that I'll get a bad mark."

"Who on earth could be as mean as that?" wondered Sally. "Anyway, who would have access to the papers?"

"They could have sneaked into Miss James' office and found them lying about," said Darrell. "You know how messy Miss James' desk is."

Sally glanced around the classroom. Most of the girls were chatting loudly and comparing marks. Miss James was writing problems on the board. Suddenly, Sally spied Leoni sitting smugly at her desk, perfect paper neatly in front of her.

"I don't suppose it could me Leoni, could it?" she whispered to Darrell, who was busy ranting on to Mavis about the answers she _knew_ she had written. Darrell looked surprised.

"Leoni? Why on earth would she do something like that?"

"Could she consider you a threat? To her marks?" Sally knew that was a weak excuse, and highly unlikely.

"Of course not!" Darrell snorted. "Much as I hate to admit it, in maths I'm no match for Leoni. She's always perfect and she knows it. Even if she hadn't destroyed my work, she would still have beat me."

"What about Melanie?" Alicia entered the conversation, feeling rather annoyed herself that she had again been beaten by Leoni, by half a mark! "She's so slow and silly she's sure to feel intimidated by all of us."

"Melanie doesn't even dare to ask a question in class," protested Sally. "I can't imagine someone as shy as her daring to rifle through the paper, select Darrell's, then go through and ruin it."

"Do you suppose maybe it wasn't my paper that was supposed to get ruined, but Leoni's?" suddenly suggested Darrell. "Someone who was jealous of her perhaps, and wanted her to fail for once?" Mavis cast an accusing look at Alicia, who reddened.

"Wasn't me!" she insisted. "OK, so I want to beat Leoni, and I dislike her stuck-up attitude, but I'm not one to go and ruin her results for my own benefit!"

The other girls believed her, for Alicia, despite her straight and sometimes rude ways, was always honest, and would never do something as low down as that. They considered Gwen, who had done similar tricks before.

"Gwen has been awfully quiet lately though," remarked Darrell. "Having to work so hard for school cert. You remember how she failed?" Gwen had pulled of a stunt to try and be sent home during the exam in order to miss it, but had been caught and sent back to school. Unprepared for the school certificate, she had failed miserably.

"Yes." Alicia had also failed due to illness, and had to attend extra classes in order to prepare for when she would redo the exam later in the year. "Miss James works us all hard, and Gwen grumbles to no end. Melanie's in the class as well. Gwen spends the whole time chatting!"

Miss James suddenly interrupted the little conversation at the back of the classroom.

"Mavis! Alicia, Darrell and Sally! Stop talking and get to work, or else you'll have to stay in at break time."

Silence fell over the classroom again, until Irene began humming a soft tune to herself. Being crazy on music, she often absent-mindedly forgot where she was and started composing, even in the middle of maths class! At that moment she was feeling rather pleased, for she had achieved full marks in the maths test and tied with Leoni for first place. In her mind she had composed a little victory tune, and was busy scribbling the notes on the back page of her exercise book.

"Irene!" snapped Miss James. "Be quiet!"

For a few minutes there was silence, before...

"Tum tum ti tum. Ooh, victorious trumpets! Perfect! Tum tum turruh!! Turruh! Turruh!"

A few students giggled, and Miss James glared at them. "Irene, if you hum one more time I shall send you outside."

"Sorry Miss James." Irene looked back down at her work, her mouth firmly closed, determined not to make the slightest more noise. Miss James continued marking some atrocious first form essays, which she had offered to do for Miss Potts, feeling rather cross. Suddenly, an irritating tapping noise began.

_Tap tap tape-ty tap! Tape-ty tape-ty taptaptap!_

"What on earth is that now?" grumbled Miss James. Mary-Lou noticed that Irene was day dreaming again, and instead of humming had begun tapping the rhythm of her tune on the wooden desk with her pencil. Not wanting her to get in trouble, Mary-Lou leaned forward and poked her with her pen. At once, Irene shook herself and scribbled the next answer to her maths problem in her book, sighing noisily to herself.

_Tape-ty tap tap tape-ty tap tap TAP!_

"IRENE!" Miss James had caught the poor musician tapping red-handed. "Leave this class at once! And do not come out until you decide to stop disrupting the class."

Red in the face with embarrassment, Irene sidled out of the room with her book tucked under her arm. The door closed behind her. "Now, perhaps we shall have some peace and quiet," Miss James announced.

As the class continued with their work, Alicia, who had extremely sharp hearing, whispered something to Darrell. "Old Irene is still tapping away in the corridor!" Darrell grinned.

Out in the hallway, Irene was indeed in seventh heaven. Although embarrassed to be sent out of the classroom, it meant that she could finish composing in peace. She was so absorbed in her music that she didn't notice the footsteps coming down the hall, and nearly jumped out of her skin when a teacher spoke sharply to her.

"Irene! What on earth are you doing out here?"

"Oh, er, hello Matron!" Irene stood up quickly and smiled. The neat, orderly, white-aproned Matron was standing sternly in front of her, but there was a slight twinkle in her eye. Behind her was May, Melanie's sister, who had obviously just returned to school from the hospital.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in class?" demanded Matron.

"I was sent out for being musical." _Better just tell the truth and get it over with_, thought Irene to herself, a plan formulating in her mind.

Matron tried to frown but a smile crept up the corners of her mouth. She was rather fond to the scatter-brained Irene, and knew very well of her absent-minded musical ways.

"Besides," continued Irene, noting Matron's amused look. "I wasn't exactly doing anything wrong. We were studying fractions, and music has a lot of fraction-like concepts in it. By humming and tapping, I was simply expanding my mathematical knowledge and putting it to use in the everyday world."

"I see." Matron glanced through the door where the class was working peacefully. "Well, instead of messing about out here, why don't you take May along to her class? They have an extended lesson to make time for a test. Break is in ten minutes and by the time you return you can join your class for that."

Irene agreed, and set off down the hallway with May, who had jovially watched the whole scene.

"Do you like music?" asked May as they walked towards the first form classroom.

"Oh yes, I love composing things." Irene flipped open to show May the scribbled notes. "See?"

"What were you writing?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just a little victory tune for tying with that smart Leoni. You just came back from hospital, right? How are you feeling?"

"Oh, much better." May certainly looked her normal confident self as she walked briskly along. "It was nice having Gwen and Melanie visit me. By the way, does the fifth form have anything on this afternoon?"

"Only a compulsory practice lacrosse game to help Darrell, Sally and Leoni prepare for the match tomorrow," said Irene. "Why?"

"I guess that means Gwen won't be able to come to the town with me, like she promised," said May. "She said she'd come soon, and you know we first formers can't go by ourselves. Perhaps tomorrow."

Irene looked puzzled, but didn't comment. Who could honestly stand the conceited fifth former? How on _earth_ could May put up with Gwen?

_**To be continued...**_

_**Please review!!!!  
**_


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories.**

**_Dun dun DUN!!! The climax chapter!! Ooh, what will happen next???? BTW: I don't know how to play lacrosse, I could only write what I knew from a few basic knowledge and what I read in Malory Towers/Enid Blyton._**

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers! _Chapter twenty_  
**

The day of the lacrosse game dawned bright and sunny. Darrell woke up early feeling on top of the world. She was playing! She had been chosen out of all the fifth formers to represent the senior team! A pleasant feeling of excitement washed over her.

Darrell could hardly sit still in class that morning. Sally was the same. Both of them had spent every moment of their free time practicing, and they had thrown so many balls and perfected so many catches, they could hardly keep their minds on the French work in front of them.

Mam'zelle Dupont sat impatiently at her desk. The whole fifth form was excited for their players, but Mam'zelle had no interest in English sports. She simply didn't see the point of tossing a ball around on a grassy field and throwing it into nets. She would much rather sit at a nice coffee shop in Paris and sip hot chocolate while reading a good book. Miss Grayling had kept her word and had a talk with Mam'zelle. While she managed to persuade the teacher that the fifth form hadn't been involved in the tricks, Mam'zelle had since remained constantly suspicious of all the students, although she could barely manage to stay in her bad mood for long.

"Darrell! Sit up!" Mam'zelle tapped her pen on her desk to get the student's attention. "You are day dreaming again!"

"Sorry Mam'zelle." Darrell looked back down to her book, but the words swam before her eyes and images of lacrosse flooded her mind. Alicia decided to add a comical air to the class, and mimicked an exaggerated lacrosse swing when Mam'zelle looked away. The whole class tried desperately to control their giggles. Alicia, enjoying the attention, grabbed a ruler and pretended to catch a ball in mid-air with her 'stick'. With a crash and a clutter, she found herself on the floor next to her overturned desk, which she knocked over while reaching out for her imaginary ball. Mam'zelle looked up sharply.

"Alicia! Do you want to be sent out of class?"

"No thanks Mam'zelle. I'm quite fine here." Alicia struggled to right her desk and pick up the mess of scattered papers and stationary which had tumbled onto the floor. As she propped the desk up, the lid flipped open and a volley of textbooks gracefully cascaded out to join the rest of her work. Mam'zelle frowned.

"Hurry up and behave," she snapped, although her eyes twinkled. "Honestly, the things you get up to."

"We're just excited," Mavis protested. "There's such an important game this afternoon. Darrell and Sally and Leoni may win the trophy for Malory Towers!"

"Trophy indeed," grumbled Mam'zelle. "Just a lump of bronze, and all you do is race about madly turning your cheeks red and your hair into a mess. I never understand you English point of sight."

"Point of _view_ Mam'zelle," grinned Belinda.

"In France, we would do something dignified."

"Like eat pastries?" suggested Moira. "All day long?"

"Yes! The French pastries are like no others." Mam'zelle nodded her head, pleased that someone else at least understood some of the high points of her culture.

"But lacrosse is good for exercise after eating all those pastries," said the cheeky Betty. "After all, too many sweets can make you fat."

"Like Gwen," hissed a now composed Alicia, quite unkindly. Luckily, Gwen didn't hear her from the other side of the classroom.

The amusing French class only added to Darrell's high spirits, and later that morning Miss James gave her another surprise. The teacher had reconsidered her maths test, knowing perfectly well that Darrell was much more capable than the test had shown.

"But how someone could have tampered with it I don't know," Miss James said, shaking her head in amazement. "Anyhow, you can do another test for me later this week, just before reports are finalized. I'll put in different questions, of course, but this test's mark shall not be counted." Darrell thanked her profusely before springing off to break. The day was turning out to be simply wonderful!

That afternoon, a large bus rambled up to Malory Towers, and the opposing lacrosse team, who came from a very rich school, tumbled out. They were a big, fearsome looking bunch of girls, who gripped their lacrosse sticks like swords. They joined the Malory Towers team for a light lunch before heading out to the field to warm up. Darrell fiddled with her lacrosse stick, nervous.

"Don't worry," assured Sally. "I'm sure we can beat them."

"They look so experienced!" fretted Darrell, watching one of them shoot a practice ball with a quick, bullet-like throw into the net. "I can't help worrying."

"Leoni doesn't look worried." Both looked to where the calm girl was leaning against a tree, scratching her lacrosse stick in the ground, looking quite bored.

"She hasn't talked to us since that monopoly game," Darrell said. "I hope she isn't still angry with us."

"She hardly talks to us anyway, though I do feel bad. She must have thought we were mocking her instead of trying to help her learn the rules of the game." Sally sighed. "I tried to explain to her, but she wouldn't listen."

A shrill whistle burst through the air, and Darrell, after wishing the others luck, hurried to her spot on the field. The game began, and all at once the other team grabbed the ball, passing it to one another easily. The captain aimed a hard shot, and the ball soared into the net despite the goal keeper's best efforts to stop it. The spectators groaned, but cheered Malory Towers on.

Leoni didn't seem to put any effort in at all. She sauntered about the field, occasionally attempting a half-hearted tackle, but barely watched the ball as it flew from player to player. Darrell looked at Sally in alarm.

"_What_ is she doing?"

"I don't know!" panted Sally, running off after the ball. "But I hope she picks up her game. We need Leoni to win!"

The other team scored a second goal, and then another. The Malory Towers girls soon became tired out. They played well, and the goal keeper valiantly saved numerous balls, but Leoni really let everybody down. The whole team had been trained to work together, and Leoni had been given an important role because of her talent, but she ignored all the instructions she had been given and went her own way, walking around, barely moving. The team's network of plans crumbled down into nothing.

"She's ruining it!" Darrell puffed, but before she could say more, the ball flew right past her nose. Automatically she swung round and scooped it into her net, racing towards her goal. Two girls ran up to tackle her, and Darrell desperately looked for a team member to throw it to. Everyone was down on the other end of the field, and Leoni was the only one nearby.

"PASS! PASS! PASS!" yelled the watching crowd. "PASS!"

"Leoni!" Darrell screeched her name and tossed the ball towards her. Leoni looked up, yawned, and grabbed it in her net. She stood there with the ball, eyes half closed.

"RUN!" yelled Darrell as her attackers spun around and made for Leoni. The onlookers screamed and screamed, all astounded. Leoni was failing the whole team! A stick crashed down on Leoni's and the other team had the ball, moving in the other direction towards their goal. Leoni shrugged and fiddled with her watch as Darrell chased after them. Sally aimed a tackle but was a split second too late. The player with the ball shot it towards the goal, catching the keeper unawares. Another goal to them.

The half-time whistle blew, and everyone walked wearily off the field, where lemon wedges were being served. Darrell sucked hers furiously, her temper rising. "What on earth does Leoni think she's doing?" she spluttered, nearly choking on her sour piece. "She's ruining the whole game and she knows it."

"Calm down Darrell," said the sports captain, tired and irritated herself. "Don't waste energy by getting angry. I want to speak to that Leoni. Where is she?"

But Leoni was nowhere to be seen. She had completely disappeared, and no one could find her. The whistle blew and the sports captain waved for a reserve, but suddenly Leoni burst out of nowhere, shoving the reserve out of the way and taking her place. Everyone glared at her, but she ignored them. Play began again, and what a difference!

Leoni's dreary attitude suddenly swapped for first-class player. The other team stared in surprise as she tackled, stole the ball and shot a clean goal. For the entire second half, hardly anyone got a chance to hold the ball- Leoni had it all the time. Another goal to Malory Towers, another, and another. Goal after goal was scored, all from different positions to catch the keeper unawares. The crowd oohed and aahed at the game. At one point the whole opposing team formed a huddle and stood in front of Leoni, blocking her way the entire length of the field. Leoni didn't waver. She tossed the ball neatly over the heads, and as they all scrambled round to find it, she quickly darted between them, scooped up the ball and continued on her way. There was no stopping her!

Victory was secured for Malory Towers, and the whole school shook with cheering. Afterwards, everyone clapped Leoni on the back and praised her, crowding round to talk to her. Despite her terrible playing at the beginning, she had saved the game. Someone asked to write about her in the newspaper, and she literally glowed with delight.

"Well played Leoni!" said Darrell afterwards, when the hustle had died down, although inwardly she was disappointed that she had not had the chance to play as well as she could have.

Leoni smiled a prig little smile. "Why _thank you_ Darrell, how kind of you."

"Girls, watch out, the bus is backing out." A sports mistress hurried past towards the games room to put away the balls, and the little group sidled over as the driver carefully navigated the big vehicle down the curving drive.

"Why did you play so effortlessly before?" asked Sally.

"I was giving you a chance, kind soul as I am," said Leoni. "You're always complaining you never have a chance to get the ball when I play, so I thought for a change I'd let you take command."

"But you spoilt everything! You ruined all our plans!" protested Darrell. "We could have easily lost!"

"But you didn't!" snapped Leoni. "_I_ was there. You should have known you wouldn't lose. See how you treat me! You want a chance, and I give you one, and then you completely stuff up. It's only because of me that we won!"

"We only 'stuffed up' because you spoilt everything," said Sally. "It was a close call. All those training sessions, all those carefully thought out tricks and positions, you ignored them, and on purpose!"

"You were showing off!" continued Darrell. "You knew we'd be ruined, and decided that a marvelous job at the _end_ would get you all the attention you wanted!"

Leoni smoldered. "You're cruel Darrell. You're just jealous."

"No I'm not! I'm just glad I'm not a stuck-up prig like you. Always wanting to be center of attention. Always ruining things for us just so you can show off your talent!"

"You mean, nasty thing!" Leoni swung around and stalked off. She turned round, walking backwards. "I'm in the paper, and _you're _not! I'm going to get a nice long letter of praise from my parents, and _you're _not, because you're so useless!"

Sally suddenly gasped in horror. "Leoni look out!" But it was too late. In her huff, Leoni had skipped off, still looking back and calling out taunts towards them, straight into the path of the reversing bus.

**_To be continued..._**

**_Please review!! DUN DUN DUN!!!!!!! Sorry for the long chapter. Hope you are enjoying the story so far!!  
_**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories.**

**_Sorry this took so long. This is sort of an in-between chapter, not really a main one. Four or five more after this I think. Thank you for all the reviews. _**

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers! _Chapter twenty-one_**

Sally screamed. Darrell gagged. The bus swerved violently and ran straight into the perfectly clipped flower beds, the confused driver slumped madly over the wheel. People ran forward as Leoni lay motionless on the ground. Mary-Lou, who had been right nearby, fainted. A few first formers ran shrieking away. The other lacrosse team looked on in astonishment.

Miss Grayling, who had seen everything from her office window, came running out, struggling to pick up fast speed in her high heels. A large second former pushed her way forward, took one look at the scene and collapsed onto the ground. Matron nearly had a fit.

"Everyone away. EVERYONE! Oh quick, someone call an ambulance!!" The air was full of chatter and excitement. Miss Grayling was pale. Teachers streamed out the front door and began herding everyone away. Darrell and Sally were caught up in the crowd, being pushed mercilessly into the front hall of the school.

"Oh, what's happening?!" Sally exclaimed, her heart thumping painfully. Gwendoline ran by screaming continuously, trying to get attention. Melanie was sobbing to herself. The head girl was running off to do something for Miss Grayling. The East and West tower Matrons ran by with a giant first aid kit. Everywhere was confusion and panic, but no answers to the number of questions which flew through their minds.

"Is she, is she dead?" spluttered Darrell.

"I didn't see," Sally admitted. "But she was hit. I saw that much." She shuddered at the memory.

"Perhaps if we go a front window we can see what's happening," Darrell suggested. She felt rather weak.

"Do you _really_ want to see what's happening?" Sally asked, feeling like she didn't particularly want to.

"No," Darrell said. "But I can't stand just doing nothing, and not knowing what's going on." Sally agreed, and the two of them shoved their way through the crowded hall in search of a convenient window overlooking the drive. They finally found a small alcove with a window seat that was free from the throng of students. They made room for Belinda and Alicia, who came to join them.

"It was truly horrible!" Belinda shivered. She had sweat beading her forehead and looked unwell. "Did you see her face as the bus..."

"Yes." Sally nodded, and leaned her head against the comforting cool glass. "It was awful."

"I'm glad I didn't see it actually hit her," Darrell said. "I closed my eyes."

"What are they doing?" Alicia, who had been looking curiously out the window, asked. She tried to put on a cool voice although she really felt very shaken. The others craned to look.

"I can't see her," Belinda said. "Miss Potts is in the way."

"There's poor Mary-Lou! Look, she's come to!"

"The ambulance has arrived! There's that fat second former being taken away. She fainted, I think."

There was a small voice behind them. "I think I'm going to collapse." They all turned to see Gwendoline clamp a hand over her forehead and stagger weakly against the doorframe. They ignored her and turned back to the window, knowing her melodramatic ways.

"I see an arm!" Gwendoline suddenly screamed, pointing to the white arm of Leoni which had fallen into view. She covered her eyes and ran away. Darrell took a deep breath. "Here come the ambulance officers."

The four students watched in vain as a crowd of medical officers completely blocked their view. Finally, they gave up.

"What a terrible, terrible thing to happen!" Darrell felt tears come to her eyes. "And to think. If we hadn't angered her..."

"It's not your fault," Belinda said quickly. "If she wasn't so conceited and had looked where she was going, none of this would have happened."

"It's her own fault," Alicia said flatly.

"I just wish this whole day had never happened," Sally mourned. "It's gone from bad to worse. Although she was mean I don't think anyone deserves to have something like this happen to them. Poor Leoni!"

**_To be continued..._**

**_Sorry for the shortness. Please review!! _**


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: I do not own Enid Blyton's stories.**

**_Another chapter!!_**

**The Fifth Form Again at Malory Towers! _Chapter twenty-two_**

Miss Grayling gave the whole school the rest of the afternoon off, for everyone was far too jittery over the whole Leoni incident to do any real learning. However, the next day, classes were run as usual, and the fifth formers spent a quiet maths lesson without the normal bossy, gloating voice of Leoni teasing them as they made mistakes. Her absence was strongly felt, and although none of the girls had ever actually _liked_ her, all of them wished she was in the class instead of lying in some hospital bed in a serious condition, as they had been told. Gwen was the only one who meanly thought, '_Haha Leoni. Now look what your attitude has done_.'

The whole day was altogether sullen and depressing. The fifth formers constantly begged the teachers for information, but all they were told was that she was alive, but seriously hurt. Later that afternoon, Darrell and Sally went to the san. to visit Mary-Lou, who was recovering well after her collapse the day before.

"Hello Mary-Lou!" greeted Sally as they walked into the small but neat room.

"Hello Darrell. Hello Sally. Thank you so much for coming to visit me!"

"Daphne was going to come, but she got called to do something for Mam'zelle. Returned work, or something like that," Darrell said.

"It's OK. It's terribly kind of you to come." Mary-Lou's face suddenly went pale. "Any news on Leoni?"

"No more so far than what you already know." Darrell sighed. "It's so nerve-wrecking. I wonder if her parents have arrived yet to see her."

"Now here's something I overheard Matron say," Mary-Lou whispered, making sure Matron was nowhere nearby to hear. "Leoni's parents are on holidays overseas somewhere, so the school can't contact them."

"How terrible!" Sally exclaimed. "That means they don't even know of what happened."

"No, and even though it's made the papers, the information is likely to reach them wherever they are," Darrell added. "Poor Leoni!"

Mary-Lou looked sad. "And the poor girl doesn't have any relatives in the country either."

"Really?" Sally looked surprised.

"She told me once. Her family has moved countries many times, I'm not sure why. They came here a year ago from America. She's English by birth, though."

Darrell looked astounded. "When did she tell you all that?"

"A little while ago. I spoke to her once when she was lonely." Dear little Mary-Lou! It was so like her to try and make friends with the lonely Leoni.

"Has she told you anything else?" Sally asked curiously. Mary-Lou shook her head. "She got angry after telling me that, and left." Matron suddenly appeared, seemingly from nowhere.

"That's enough talking for now girls. Mary-Lou should have a nice lunch and nap before coming back to class tomorrow."

"Matron, do you know anything about Leoni?" Darrell asked, thinking maybe she could wheedle something out of the friendly nurse.

"She's been seriously injured, and is in hospital."

"Anything else?"

"That's all I know Darrell." Matron turned to add salt and pepper to some broth she had prepared for Mary-Lou. "The poor child is there all alone, except for Miss Grayling who is over at the hospital. We are having trouble contacting her parents."

"I don't suppose we could visit her?" Sally suddenly said. Darrell sighed, knowing it would be impossible, but Matron stopped for a moment, thinking.

"You know, it could be arranged," she mused.

"What do you mean? Surely she's not up to visitors."

"No, but the hospital did mention that some familiar faces would brighten up her day. Happiness is great at healing. It would have to be quick, but I'm sure I could arrange it if you really wanted to go."

"We do," Sally and Darrell nodded eagerly. Anything to help make Leoni a little happier.

"I thought about getting some friends, but I wasn't sure who Leoni's friends were," Matron continued. The girls didn't answer, and Matron sighed. "Well, I'll see girls. You just wait and I'll let you know whether you can go. Now scoot! Before Mary-Lou's soup gets cold."

Darrell and Sally were excited to be told a while later that they could go to the hospital, that evening! They also managed to gather together an assortment of gifts from the suddenly generous fifth formers, and collected a bag of Leoni's things Matron had prepared in the dormy.

Just as they were leaving, however, Darrell was called to a meeting. She had signed up a while back to help with some charity fundraising, but had completely forgotten about it.

"Sally, I can't go to the hospital. I'm bitterly disappointed, but I gave my word," she said mournfully.

"It's OK. I'm sure you'll have another chance to visit," Sally said, giving her friend a pat on the back. As it turned out, Belinda was available that evening, and she went off with Sally to catch the bus to the hospital.

In less than an hour, they were sitting in a stark waiting room while a nurse went to check on Leoni. Sally sat peacefully among the tall vases of sweet smelling flowers, trying not to breathe in the clinical hospital smell which flooded the room, but Belinda was restless, and paced up and down.

"Do sit still Belinda," Sally said. "You're rattling those packages, and I think Mavis packed something fragile."

"Sorry Sally." Belinda said. She tried to sit down, only to become entangled in the bags and trip over onto the floor, landing on top of one package and flipping another of the bags open. The contents spilled out onto everywhere, and Sally rushed to help the disorientated Belinda.

"What will we do with you Belinda?" she grinned, trying not to laugh as she ran after some lost plums. Belinda concentrated on picking up the large number of photos which had flown out of an album, packed by Matron.

"Look at this!" she suddenly exclaimed, holding up a picture of Leoni standing in front of a large house. Sally came over, her arms full of fruit. "Wow! Leoni must be rich! Look at that car!"

"There are grand things in every photo," Belinda said. "See, here's a yacht. And here's one of her with her dogs. They've got diamond collars!"

Sally studied the pictures curiously. She had never guessed that Leoni came from a wealthy family. The girl had never shown off or boasted of any of those things. She picked up another photo, one of Leoni with her parents. Leoni was smiling and looked genuinely happy, not grumpy and rude as she usually was.

"Look at this," Sally said, handing it to Belinda. "Her parents. Her mother is all dressed up, and look at those pearl earrings!"

But Belinda didn't answer. She was staring very intently at the people in the picture. "Have I seen these people before?" she asked.

"I don't think so," Sally responded, puzzled. "I mean, they didn't come at half term."

"They look...familiar...or similar to someone I know."

"Of course! They're Leoni's parents. They're bound to look like her!"

"No, no." Belinda shook her head, squinting as she tried to remember. "Look at her mother. Look at the eyes, and the shape of her nose. She doesn't look anything like Leoni, who takes after her father. She looks like someone else."

"Who? I can't see anything, but then again, I don't have your artist's eye."

"Sally!" suddenly gasped Belinda. "I've got it! I've got it! That face. The nose, the curls!"

"They're probably fake curls anyway."

"No! Look! Don't you see? Change the hair to brown and put a pair of glasses on her face."

Sally tried to imagine as Belinda said, and suddenly it struck her. She turned to Belinda, who was pale with excitement, her eyes big and round. "Is it..."

"Yes." Belinda nodded. "Change a couple of things and Leoni's mother is a splitting image of Melanie."

**_To be continued..._**

**_Please review! Also, I'm thinking of starting a five find-outer's story. I've got it all planned out..._**


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